April 28, 2021
The organizers behind an Oakland--based fundraising event are hoping to raise awareness about pandemic-era violence toward Asian Americans while raising money to combat racism — deliciously.
Bake Love Nott Hate, founded by Alice Tsui, Michelle Leung, Tammy Choy and Chris Silverman, is a bake sale featuring some of the Bay Area’’s hottest bakeries, including La Farine, Boichik Bagels and Ono Bakehouse. It will run from noon to 6 p.m. May 1 at 59 Grand Ave., Oakland — note that this is a new address — with all proceeds benefiting three charities that support Asian American Pacific Islanders.
Buying mouth-wateriing baked goods, like the Green Onion Croissants from Berkeley’s Bake Sum, is not the only way to get involved. There are two other components to Bake Love Not Hate: an online auction from noon April 30 to midnight May 2 featuring products (hello, signed Steph Curry Warriors jersey) and gift cards from more than 50 Bay Area businesses, like Levi’’s,, Farmhouse Thai Kitchen and Taylor Stitch; and a Day of Giving on May 1 when you can shop at partnering businesses that will donate a portion of their proceeds to combat racism.
The founders are not bakers. They are community members — Leung is a Salesforce sound engineer living in San Bruno, Choy and Silverman are long-time Oakland business owners — who mobilized their resources, “love this city and are super sad to see the recent hate crimes happening to the Asian community,” Silverman says. They believed bakers would rise to the occasion, and they were right.
“Enough is enough,” he says. “The more noise we can raise about this the better.”
To date,11 bakeries have signed up and the founders are expecting more. While not all of the bakers will be present, you will be able to purchase their freshly baked goods. Boichik is providing 20 dozen bagels. Ono Bakehouse will sell its Lilikoi Poppyseed Pound Cake. La Farine will have morning buns. Firebrand will sell its breads and Sugarsweet Cookie + Cake Studio will bring its Brown Butter Salted Caramel Cupcakes.
Also be on the lookout for Pie Society and Vive La Tarte from San Francisco, Cupcakin’ Bake Shop, Two Chicks in the Mix and Annie’s T Cakes (all three in Oakland), and Tai Zhan, a plant-based microbakery in Los Gatos.
The three charities benefiting from their efforts are AAPII Women Lead, which empowers AAPII women and girls through leadership programs; Asian Prisoner Support Committee, which supports AAPII prisoners and raises awareness about disproportionate rates of imprisonment, detainment, and deportation in their community; and Hate Is A Virus, which amplifies awareness of AAPII discrimination and hate crimes while standing in solidarity with BIPOC communities.
Tsui, a photographer who grew up in Sunnyvale but is currently living in Los Angeles, says they hope to raise up to $20,000 for the three charities, which she and her co--founders chose for their financial transparency, female empowerment and messages of unity.
Author Jessica Yadegaran | Eat Drink Play writer and editor dining editor. She graduated from San Diego State University with a B.A. degree in journalism and lives in tthe East Bay. In her spare time, she likes hiking, cooking and spending time with her family.
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