Trapped El Bolillo bakers bake dozens of sheets of pan dulce for flood victims
HOUSTON — Thousands of Houstonians were stranded at home over the weekend, as well as in cars or at work, as Harvey unleashed its fury over the city.
Among those trapped were a group of El Bolillo bakers. The team working out of the panaderia's Wayside Drive location were trapped in the bakery for two days.
So what did they do to pass the time? In a gesture that was both literally and figuratively 'sweet,' they baked sheets and sheets of pan dulce to be handed out to people in need.
"For most of the time, they decided not to waste time and made as much pan dulce as they could," store manager, Brian Alvarado told Chron.com. "How they helped us today is the only reason we were able to open today."
The group of bakers used more than 4,200 lbs of flour over the course of their time at the bakery and were picked up from the bakery early Monday. The bakery was not damaged by flooding though the road outside was filled, Alvarado said.
The El Bolillo bakeries had been working 'round the clock since Friday to bake bread for those affected by the floods and shared videos and photos of their efforts. Facebook followers and panaderia loyalists posted and shared the photos and videos, making their posts go viral.
Even when they ran out of bread Sunday morning and had to close the store, the bakery announced that their bakers were working all night to ensure a fresh batch of bread was ready for people in need.
If you want to get some bread from El Bolillo, the bakery announced they will be open Tuesday at their Wayside and Pasadena locations until 8 p.m.