Sawatsky (Right) and Zavadiuk (Left) met in Calgary almost 17 years ago. Although Zavakdiuk's background is in trucking, they both decided to start a bakery together. (Jeannie Lin/ CHLY 101.7fm)

Operating on Commercial street in downtown Nanaimo since 2018, Red’s Bakery has been described by its supporters as a pillar of downtown Nanaimo. The bakery’s pay it forward system provides free meals to anyone and everyone who comes in and asks.

“ The pay it forward actually started out as the muffin fund. For every muffin that was sold, we put the money towards giving the, we call them street kids. People would buy muffins, and then we would give these people coffee and a muffin. And from there, it ended up being the pay it forward program because the need was so much bigger than just coffee and a muffin. There's people that need food at midnight. There's people that need food at 2:00 a.m. in the morning, 5:00 a.m. in the morning. So we pretty well do most of it out of our pocket, but we care.” said Stevie Sawatsky, owner of Red’s Bakery.

Sawatsky is also known by the nickname Red. She has been cooking and baking since she was 13-years-old, and has worked in restaurants throughout Alberta and northern B.C. Sawatsky’s husband and co-owner of Red’s Bakery, Trevor Zavadiuk, explained how the pay it forward system relies on public donations.

“ And with the amount of people that ended up getting laid off or hours cut or just losing their jobs, due to COVID, the demand just went through the roof. And that's when we had to really sit back and take a good hard look at it, and it was really costing us a lot of money because the demand was so high. And that's when we pretty much decided to go public with it, to the point of if somebody would like to donate, then there it is. And what it does is essentially cover our costs of getting what the material cost is and the food back. It's not anything we make a profit on whatsoever,” said Zavadiuk.

Sawatsky and Zavadiuk met in Calgary almost 17 years ago. Although Zavakdiuk's background is in trucking, they both decided to start a bakery together.

“ I really wanted to be back on the island. It really didn't matter where on the island. I’m quite familiar with Nanaimo because I used to come through all the time going to camp. And just we were going through listings actually. And we came across a place, and put an offer in. They accepted the offer, and here we are,” said Sawatsky.

On the days they are open, Red’s Bakery opens at 7:00 a.m. in the morning and closes at midnight. Zavadiuk says the hours have been detrimental to their health.

“ Our health has deteriorated significantly from overworking ourselves to make all of this happen, but I mean you absolutely devote everything you have to the business, so it's what you have, it's what you work with. You realize a lot of people depend on you, and you also depend on it to make your bills and everything else. And you just pour your heart into it,” said Zavadiuk.

Sawatsky is managing pain from a back injury, and Zavadiuk suffered a heart attack last year. Sawatzky talked about her motivations for persisting despite these health challenges.

“ They're all people, and nobody, absolutely nobody in this country deserves to go hungry. I don't care who they are or, it doesn't matter. But nobody deserves to go hungry,” she said.

“ At Christmas time, we do the Christmas hampers for families. We set up a Christmas hamper for these families. We have breakfast for the street kids. Or anybody that needs or wants to be down here. We do cinnamon buns and muffins, and a lot of times we do eggers.”

“ They're there, and people still need something to eat. And you know what? If you're hungry, we're gonna feed you, whether it's out of our pocket or out of a fund or anything. We don't turn anybody away. We don't turn anyone away,” added Zavadiuk.

“I was struggling myself, and they helped me. I got part of the money together, and they gave me the rest of the money. They helped me get a truck. They are like mom and dad to me. My own dad died back in the beginning of January. I came down here, I spoke with Trevor, and then he just said ‘Take what you need. Whatever you need, we're here for you. We're here to help you.’ They have been nothing but supportive towards me,” said Janine Morton, staff member at Red’s Bakery.

Janine Morton has been working at the Red’s Bakery for six years. Born and raised in Nanaimo, Morton also said that working at the bakery allowed her to connect with her community members more.

“ Working here, I have learned that everybody is cut from the same cloth. And so when we're closed, it affects them a lot because we are the core place, it's a safe place for them to come, get a coffee, get a muffin, get a meal. And when we're closed, it probably takes a toll on them because they know that if something goes wrong, we're the place to come, we'll help them the best that we can,” said Morton.

Sarah Ann Petit is the specialty baker of Red’s Bakery. She started working in July of 2025. She is in charge of gluten-free, low sugar, and vegan items. She talked about the important role the bakery plays.

“ From working here, I got a second job working at a shelter as well, just to be more with the community. And then having worked there, seeing how shelters work versus how this place works, we do so much that bridges a lot of the gaps that shelters can't fill, because there's so much going on, especially at this time of year,” she said.

Sawatsky talked about the impact she had on the people she’s helped.

“ But we've had so many phone calls from our street kids. Tyler comes to mind. He all of a sudden disappeared and it's like, ‘Oh my God, is he okay?’ We got a message that he had gone to Saskatchewan, and he was trying to clean up. Lo’ and behold, he phoned us shortly after and he did clean up. Three, I think it's three years now, it could be four, he just bought a house with his girlfriend and her little kids,” said Sawatsky.

“ And he thanks us constantly for helping him. And what we did was we treated him with respect. We made sure he had food and he knew we cared. And if he needed dry socks or a dry hoodie or a dry jacket, we usually have things like that on hand to look out for them because there's nothing worse in the middle of winter than to be soaking wet and freezing.”

“ Then yesterday, right after we got here I got a message. One of our street kids. Andre, Dre. His mom said that he'd been shot and killed in Kamloops on the fifth of May, and we just, I, we literally lost it,” Sawatsky said.

“He came in with the biggest smile. He loved both Trevor and I very much. He was very protective of the bakery. If anybody stepped out of line he would put them back in line. He always watched out for especially me. Such a loving, caring person.”

According to Kamploos RCMP, the shooting is currently being investigated as a homicide and a targeted incident.

“He had expressed a whole pile of interest to getting back to Kenora. He was Native, and he came from a Native band just outside of Kenora, Ontario. Whether he was headed east on his way with that in the back of his mind, I don't know for sure. But unfortunately, he didn't make it,” said Zavadiuk.

“ So yesterday we came to work we were closed, and we came to work to get started on opening today, and leaning up against the door was a heart pillow. And the tears welled up, and the amount of love that heart pillow showed, I just looked at Trevor. I said, we can't sell. We just can’t walk away because what will these people do?”, said Sawatsky.

Sawatsky and Zavadiuk said because of the health challenges they face, they had been considering selling the bakery and closing their doors.

“We had 30 people alone coming just for a coffee and a muffin in the morning, like that depletes pretty quick. And then you've got meals, sandwiches. And just get so frustrated because, where's the city on this? Like we never started out to be a nonprofit, but we sure prove that we are a nonprofit,” said Sawatsky.

Sawatsky says the future of the bakery is uncertain, and is asking for financial support.

“I don't know. It's pretty bleak. I don't know where our future is down here, but I know that we have to keep fighting. We can't just give up and sell. The future for these guys down here, it's scary. So as for the future, I'm hoping that it can get better. I'm hoping that the province, I'm hoping that the city, somebody will come to their senses and realize that people need help,” said Sawatsky.

For Zavadiuk, he can’t fathom the idea of walking away from the bakery either.

”Because we can only do so much, right? And yes, people are like, ‘Oh, hire more people.’ This place is so small that the more people you get in here, the more you're tripping over one another, and then it becomes counterproductive. We don't want to increase. No, we don't want to franchise. We just wanna stay a mom and pop business,” he said.

Editor's note: Full interviews will be in audio version.

Photos from Red’s Bakery, taken on May 7. (Jeannie Lin/CHLY 101.7 FM)

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.