While most of us are snuggled under the covers on foggy Friday mornings, Mike Shwe is up at 5:00 am to turn on his oven. While we're hitting the snooze button and indulging in just seven more minutes of precious sleep, he's packing up and biking from his home on Lone Mountain to the SOMA District. And while we're waiting bleary-eyed for our morning caffeine fix, he's handing us warm slices of his freshly baked sourdough loaves.

 At Philz Coffee on the corner of 4th and Berry, Mike asks nothing more from customers waiting in line than to “just try a piece.” And the bread speaks for itself—nearly everyone who samples his homemade bread wants to know where they can buy it. With a chuckle, Mike says he will gladly bake and deliver a whole loaf to anyone who makes at least a $100 donation to New Door Ventures.

New Door Ventures? What's that?

And here he explains the real reason for all his early morning efforts. Mike, founder of Proof Baking Company (proofbaking.com), met Carin Ward after a service at City Church. Through Carin, Mike learned about New Door Ventures' commitment to helping at-risk youth get ready for work and for life. Soon after, he met Phil Jaber, who loved Mike's bread so much that he wanted it in his coffee shops. That's how Proof Baking, Philz Coffee, and New Door Ventures came together to form a partnership centered in philanthropy.

“I met Mike, I tried his bread and I love it. I like what he does. His idea touched me. I always say 'Never forget how to give.' We all have to contribute to the community and I'm happy to give back,” says Phil.

Though bread-making is just a hobby for Mike right now, he hopes to expand Proof Baking sometime in the near future. New Door, he says, has been an inspiration in the process of developing his idea. “It has really been a way for me to test how consumers feel about working with a social enterprise. So far, people have been very supportive, both in spirit and financially.” The kind of company he'd like Proof Baking to become is what he calls a “social business.” He hopes to eventually be a partner in New Door's Ally program, which places at-risk youth in internships at local businesses, so he can give back to the community while simultaneously building his business. “I view this as a long-term relationship. I like that New Door is very hands-on with the interns, giving them lots of training. That's the kind of help I know I'll need—a comprehensive program. I don‟t think I would be able to do this without the support and motivation of New Door.”

Not only that, but the Friday morning special is growing each week. There's usually a crowd of at least three friends and friends-of-friends buttering thick slices and chatting up customers as Mike's nine-year-old son, Alex, confidently approaches adults standing aloof at the end of the line. Sporting one of Phil‟s signature fedoras, he asks politely: “Want to try my dad's bread? It's for a good cause.”

~ Lily Beale-Wirsing, Summer Communications Intern