Unlike ordinary bakeries, the Amity Bakery in China's eastern-coastal Jiangsu Province provides employment mostly to those who are intellectually disabled - "Cuties" (a term of endearment used for people who are intellectually impaired).
Founded in 2007, Amity Bakery is a public welfare project for people with special needs developed by Amity Home of Blessings under the faith-based Amity Foundation.
Founded in 2002, the Amity Home of Blessings is the first non-profit professional institution in Qinhuai District of Nanjing City to serve people with intellectual disabilities. Its Department for Adults mainly provides care and skills training for 16–40-year-old people with intellectual disabilities (also known as "Cuties") and mild mental disorders.
Due to the limitation of their intellectual development, the intelligence of "Cuties" is only equivalent to that of five or six-year-old children, therefore a job that is within the reach of ordinary people is not as easy for them. Due to this disadvantage, few employers would consider giving opportunities to these special groups.
As the old Chinese proverb says: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. " It matches the original intention of Amity Home of Blessings which came up with a "simulated workplace" initiative, determined to provide a relatively realistic work scene for the “Cuties” trainees. In this way, with practical training over a certain amount of time, they would be able to have access to potential employers.
Inspired by the local market research in Nanjing and the successful case of Swan Bakery in Japan, in 2007, with Amity Home of Blessings’ funding, the Amity Bakery was officially opened on Huaqiao Road, Nanjing.
However, it was not so much a bakery as a "workshop". In its start-up period, the bakery was not a real business entity with a physical store, but rather just a pure operation room where trainees received training and coaching by special education teachers and baking trainers.
At that time, no one would expect that this small bakery could last over 15 years and become a well-known public welfare brand in China.
After the opening of the bakery, the trainees started from the most basic operation training such as putting on and taking off work clothes, cleaning tables and chairs, and then gradually learned how to beat eggs, mix the dough, and squeeze butter... With the continuous training, the trainees became more and more skillful day by day and gradually gained self-confidence.
In May 2009, a "greatly helpful person" came to Amity Bakery - Mr. Kwong Chun-chung, an internationally renowned baker, also the founder and vice president of the Hong Kong Bakery and Confectionery Association Limited. After learning that there was a charitable bakery in Nanjing that helped people with intellectual challenges to find jobs, Kuong joined as a volunteer and served as the technical director of the bakery who was responsible for product development and quality control of new products. At the same time, Kwong also offered the cookie recipe that he had carefully developed to Amity Bakery for free.
Meanwhile, a company with a good sense of social responsibility was willing to provide a space for the bakery for free. Subsequently, the Amity Foundation helped to purchase high-end dough mixers, blenders, ovens, freezers, and other equipment.
In June 2009, Kwong led the staff and volunteers of the bakery in making Amity's "Eight Blessings" mooncakes. During the Mid-Autumn Festival that year, purchase orders were placed by enterprises and individuals with charitable hearts from all over the country, and the turnover reached more than 500,000 Chinese Yuan (about 79,148 USD).
In that year during a training session, Chu Chaoyu, executive director of Amity Bakery, learned of the concept of "social enterprise" (i.e., achieve social goals with commercial means) that was very popular in the public welfare sector in some developed countries. Impressed by this, he decided to develop the bakery into an economically independent social enterprise.
Later in the same year, Amity Bakery was officially registered as Nanjing Amity Food Co., Ltd., which was transformed into a non-profit social enterprise that aimed to achieve economic independence in the open market and ultimately attain sustainable development. It became one of the pioneer charity projects that were transformed into social enterprises.
In 2010, with the popularity of online shopping, Amity registered a Taobao (NYSE: BABA) store to sell cookies, bread, and other foods with a long shelf life that were suitable for courier delivery. Later, it further launched a variety of gift products, "Fantastic Gift Boxes", to meet the diverse needs of the market.
After opening the Taobao store, dozens of college students from all over China voluntarily joined the operation team and worked on marketing, publicity, and customer services. With the continuous reports by mainstream media, many ordinary consumers also walked into the bakery to buy products.
According to the 2011 Annual Report of Amity Foundation, Amity Bakery achieved sales of one million Yuan (about 158,282 USD) in the whole year, of which the moon cake income was more than 600,000 Yuan (about 94,969 USD), the on-site sales reached 280,000 Yuan (about 44,319 USD), the online store sales were more than 80,000 Yuan (about 12,662 USD), and the total cash donations amounted to nearly 20,000 Yuan (about 3,165 USD).
In 2012, Amity Bakery decided to open a physical store in Nanjing, targeting mass consumers directly. In this way, while expanding the social influence, bread made by the trainees could be sold in the market, and wages could be paid to them so that they could earn income there and as a result accomplish sheltered employment.
At the beginning of 2015, the Amity Foundation launched a public welfare crowdfunding project for a new bakery- "Many People's Bakery" through online channels.
In this crowdfunding, every coffee machine, display shelf, and even every table and chair in the new store were funded by donations from all walks of life. Doners could get a box of delicious cookies, or engrave their names on the donation objects as a return for crowdfunding. This was the origin of the heartwarming name "Many People's Bakery".
In just a few months, with the support of thousands of charitable people, the bakery online crowdfunding project had raised more than 390,000 Yuan (about 61,737 USD). In May 2015, the Amity Bakery outlet (which was also a production center) at No. 16, Dajinyin Road, achieved the goal of crowdfunding and was officially opened.
Kwong, the technical director of Amity Bakery has always put quality as the top priority. In terms of ingredients, Amity Bakery selects materials according to standards above those of the industry. As for using artificial flavors and additives, it is a red line that cannot be crossed.
In the production process, the bakery also insists on being hand-made. The workflow is taken apart into details so that the "Cuties" trainees can truly participate in the bread production and can continue to refine their own professional skills at work.
(Note: The pictures in this article are from the website of the and the WeChat account of Amity Bakery)
- Translated by Shuya Wang
在南京市秦淮区有一家爱德面包坊，与一般的面包坊不同的是，这里的一大部分员工都是心智障碍的特殊人群——“喜憨儿”。
爱德面包坊创办于2007年，是爱德基金会旗下的爱德慈佑院衍生出的助残公益项目。
创立于2002年的爱德慈佑院是南京首家为智力障碍人士服务的专业化非营利机构，其成人部主要面向16-40岁的智力障碍（又称“喜憨儿”）及轻度精神障碍人士进行照料及技能培训。
由于心智发育水平的限制，“喜憨儿”们的智力仅相当于五六岁的孩童，一份常人力所能及的工作在他们眼中却并不轻松，也鲜有用人单位会考虑这些特殊群体。
本着“授人以鱼，不如授人以渔”的初衷，爱德慈佑院萌生出了一个“模拟职场”的构想，决心为“喜憨儿”学员们提供一个相对真实的工作场景，借助一段时间的实习培训，帮助他们进入用人单位。
经过对南京当地的市场调研以及日本天鹅面包坊成功案例的启发下，2007年，爱德慈佑院出资在南京华侨路正式创立了爱德面包坊。
不过，与其说是面包坊，倒不如说是一个“工作间”，初创时期的爱德面包坊并没有面向市场，也没有实体门店，只是一间纯粹的操作间，学员们在这里接受特教老师和面包师傅的培训与指导。
而初创时期，大家可能不会想到，这间小小的面包坊竟能走过15年的历程，成长为全国知名的公益品牌。
面包坊创办后，学员们从最基础的穿脱工作服、擦桌椅等基本操作训练开始，再慢慢学习如何打鸡蛋、和面团、挤奶油……在不断的培训中，学员们一天天熟练起来，也渐渐有了自信心。
2009年5月，爱德面包坊迎来了一位“贵人”——享誉国际的烘焙大师、香港烘焙协会的创始人兼副会长邝振中先生。在得知南京有一家帮助心智障碍人士就业的爱心面包坊后，邝老先生自愿参加义工，还义务担任起了面包坊的技术总监，负责新食品的开发和质量把关。同时邝先生还将自己精心研制的曲奇配方无偿捐赠给了爱德面包坊。
不仅如此，还有一家爱心企业表示愿意为面包坊提供免费场地。随后，爱德基金会帮助购置了高档打面机、搅拌机、烘烤箱、冰柜等设备。
2009年6月，邝振中先生带领着面包坊的工作人员和义工们投入到了赶制爱德“八福”月饼的工作中，当年中秋节，来自全国各地爱心企业或个人的购买订单纷至沓来，营业额达到了50多万元。
这一年，爱德面包坊执行董事褚朝禹在一次培训中接触到了在部分发达国家公益界盛行的“社会企业”概念（即：运用商业手段、实现社会目的）后，深受启发，决心将爱德面包坊也发展成为一家经济独立的社会企业。
同年，爱德面包坊正式进行工商注册，成立了南京爱德食品有限公司，转型成为了一家不以营利为主要目的，通过市场实现经济独立，最终实现可持续发展的社会企业，这也是当时国内首批转型为社会企业的公益慈善项目。
2010年，借着网购的东风，爱德面包坊注册了淘宝店铺，销售曲奇、面包等保质期较长、适宜邮寄的食品，后续还针对市场多元需求进一步推出了“奇趣礼盒”等多种礼品类产品。
淘宝店成立后，来自各地的数十位大学生义务加入到淘宝店运营团队之中，担任起营销、宣传及客服等工作。随着各大媒体的不断报道传播，不少消费者也自发前往面包坊上门购买。
据爱德基金会2011年度报告统计，爱德面包坊于全年完成销售额100万元，其中月饼收入60余万元，现场销售达28万元，网店销售8万余元，捐赠收入近2万元。
2012年，爱德面包坊决心在南京开设实体门店，直接面向大众消费者。如此便能够在扩大社会影响的同时，让学员们的面包走向市场，还能给学员们提供工资，让他们在这里得到收入，实现庇护性就业。
2015年伊始，爱德基金会通过网络渠道发起了面包坊的公益众筹项目——“很多人的面包坊”。
在此次众筹中，新店铺的每一台咖啡机、展柜甚至是每一张桌椅，都是社会各界募款而来。而每位参与捐赠的爱心人士都可以获得一盒好吃的饼干，或者是在捐赠品上刻上自己的姓名作为众筹的回报。而这也正是“很多人的面包坊”这个暖心名字的由来。
短短几个月，在数千名爱心人士的支持下，面包房网络众筹项目就募得资金39万余元。2015年5月，位于大锏银巷16号的爱德面包坊门店（同时也是生产中心）实现众筹目标，正式开业。
邝振中先生担任爱德面包坊的技术总监以来，他一直将质量作为重中之重，在食品原料上，爱德面包坊都是按照行业内标准以上进行选材。至于人工香精和添加剂，那更是不能触碰的红线。
在生产流程上，爱德面包坊也坚持全手工制作，将工作环节进行详细拆分，才能让“喜憨儿”学员们真正参与到生产制作面包的环节中，让他们在工作中不断地精进自己的职业技能。
（注：本文图片来源于爱德基金会网站及爱德面包坊公众号）
让“喜憨儿”过上有尊严的人生，他们一直在路上——爱德面包坊的故事
Unlike ordinary bakeries, the Amity Bakery in China's eastern-coastal Jiangsu Province provides employment mostly to those who are intellectually disabled - "Cuties" (a term of endearment used for people who are intellectually impaired).
Founded in 2007, Amity Bakery is a public welfare project for people with special needs developed by Amity Home of Blessings under the faith-based Amity Foundation.
Founded in 2002, the Amity Home of Blessings is the first non-profit professional institution in Qinhuai District of Nanjing City to serve people with intellectual disabilities. Its Department for Adults mainly provides care and skills training for 16–40-year-old people with intellectual disabilities (also known as "Cuties") and mild mental disorders.
Due to the limitation of their intellectual development, the intelligence of "Cuties" is only equivalent to that of five or six-year-old children, therefore a job that is within the reach of ordinary people is not as easy for them. Due to this disadvantage, few employers would consider giving opportunities to these special groups.
As the old Chinese proverb says: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. " It matches the original intention of Amity Home of Blessings which came up with a "simulated workplace" initiative, determined to provide a relatively realistic work scene for the “Cuties” trainees. In this way, with practical training over a certain amount of time, they would be able to have access to potential employers.
Inspired by the local market research in Nanjing and the successful case of Swan Bakery in Japan, in 2007, with Amity Home of Blessings’ funding, the Amity Bakery was officially opened on Huaqiao Road, Nanjing.
However, it was not so much a bakery as a "workshop". In its start-up period, the bakery was not a real business entity with a physical store, but rather just a pure operation room where trainees received training and coaching by special education teachers and baking trainers.
At that time, no one would expect that this small bakery could last over 15 years and become a well-known public welfare brand in China.
After the opening of the bakery, the trainees started from the most basic operation training such as putting on and taking off work clothes, cleaning tables and chairs, and then gradually learned how to beat eggs, mix the dough, and squeeze butter... With the continuous training, the trainees became more and more skillful day by day and gradually gained self-confidence.
In May 2009, a "greatly helpful person" came to Amity Bakery - Mr. Kwong Chun-chung, an internationally renowned baker, also the founder and vice president of the Hong Kong Bakery and Confectionery Association Limited. After learning that there was a charitable bakery in Nanjing that helped people with intellectual challenges to find jobs, Kuong joined as a volunteer and served as the technical director of the bakery who was responsible for product development and quality control of new products. At the same time, Kwong also offered the cookie recipe that he had carefully developed to Amity Bakery for free.
Meanwhile, a company with a good sense of social responsibility was willing to provide a space for the bakery for free. Subsequently, the Amity Foundation helped to purchase high-end dough mixers, blenders, ovens, freezers, and other equipment.
In June 2009, Kwong led the staff and volunteers of the bakery in making Amity's "Eight Blessings" mooncakes. During the Mid-Autumn Festival that year, purchase orders were placed by enterprises and individuals with charitable hearts from all over the country, and the turnover reached more than 500,000 Chinese Yuan (about 79,148 USD).
In that year during a training session, Chu Chaoyu, executive director of Amity Bakery, learned of the concept of "social enterprise" (i.e., achieve social goals with commercial means) that was very popular in the public welfare sector in some developed countries. Impressed by this, he decided to develop the bakery into an economically independent social enterprise.
Later in the same year, Amity Bakery was officially registered as Nanjing Amity Food Co., Ltd., which was transformed into a non-profit social enterprise that aimed to achieve economic independence in the open market and ultimately attain sustainable development. It became one of the pioneer charity projects that were transformed into social enterprises.
In 2010, with the popularity of online shopping, Amity registered a Taobao (NYSE: BABA) store to sell cookies, bread, and other foods with a long shelf life that were suitable for courier delivery. Later, it further launched a variety of gift products, "Fantastic Gift Boxes", to meet the diverse needs of the market.
After opening the Taobao store, dozens of college students from all over China voluntarily joined the operation team and worked on marketing, publicity, and customer services. With the continuous reports by mainstream media, many ordinary consumers also walked into the bakery to buy products.
According to the 2011 Annual Report of Amity Foundation, Amity Bakery achieved sales of one million Yuan (about 158,282 USD) in the whole year, of which the moon cake income was more than 600,000 Yuan (about 94,969 USD), the on-site sales reached 280,000 Yuan (about 44,319 USD), the online store sales were more than 80,000 Yuan (about 12,662 USD), and the total cash donations amounted to nearly 20,000 Yuan (about 3,165 USD).
In 2012, Amity Bakery decided to open a physical store in Nanjing, targeting mass consumers directly. In this way, while expanding the social influence, bread made by the trainees could be sold in the market, and wages could be paid to them so that they could earn income there and as a result accomplish sheltered employment.
At the beginning of 2015, the Amity Foundation launched a public welfare crowdfunding project for a new bakery- "Many People's Bakery" through online channels.
In this crowdfunding, every coffee machine, display shelf, and even every table and chair in the new store were funded by donations from all walks of life. Doners could get a box of delicious cookies, or engrave their names on the donation objects as a return for crowdfunding. This was the origin of the heartwarming name "Many People's Bakery".
In just a few months, with the support of thousands of charitable people, the bakery online crowdfunding project had raised more than 390,000 Yuan (about 61,737 USD). In May 2015, the Amity Bakery outlet (which was also a production center) at No. 16, Dajinyin Road, achieved the goal of crowdfunding and was officially opened.
Kwong, the technical director of Amity Bakery has always put quality as the top priority. In terms of ingredients, Amity Bakery selects materials according to standards above those of the industry. As for using artificial flavors and additives, it is a red line that cannot be crossed.
In the production process, the bakery also insists on being hand-made. The workflow is taken apart into details so that the "Cuties" trainees can truly participate in the bread production and can continue to refine their own professional skills at work.
(Note: The pictures in this article are from the website of the and the WeChat account of Amity Bakery)
- Translated by Shuya Wang
Faith-Based Amity Bakery Supports Young Mentally Challenged Adults
