SASKATOON — You can call Ally Hrbachek one of the Super Moms in the world as she juggles her everyday life being a wife, taking care of her three kids and running a home-based business. Yet, she still has the time to organize fundraising events and prepare meals to feed the relatives staying at the Saskatoon Tribal Council’s emergency shelter on Fairmont Drive.
Hrbachek, a self-taught baker and a daughter of a residential school survivor, is an Indigenous small business owner who operates Ally’s Creeative Bakeshop. She started her business almost four years ago.
Last month, she helped raise funds to provide meals to relatives that avail of the services offered by the Emergency Wellness Centre operated by the Saskatoon Tribal Council in Fairmont Drive. The facility was formerly located downtown.
Hrbachek, a member of the Peepeekisis First Nation, is using social media to promote her business and, at the same time, raise funds to help those who are in need, especially the vulnerable members of the Indigenous community.
“It is essential to bring up my people as much as possible while I have the platform and resources. As long as I am here, I will do all I can to help better the lives of my people and the [homeless] in my city. Especially during Christmas time every year,” said Hrbacheck, who taught herself to bake in 2017.
She started baking and decorating cookies, became passionate about it, and then moved to cake decorating with the help of a pastry chef, other bakers, and videos she watched on YouTube.
Hrbachek said she knows the hardships the poor and homeless people are going through. She also grew up in a challenging environment, raised by her teenage mom, who was going through the effects and trauma of being a residential school survivor.
“I grew up in a tough situation. My mom and uncle went to residential school. It was a tough upbringing, especially when my mom was trying to constantly break the mould, breaking the cycle of abuse in my family,” said Hrbachek.
“With that upbringing, I knew what it was like to have nothing. So now that I’m an adult, I have a wonderful job where I get to do what I love all day, every day; I do what I can to constantly give back to my community, especially the low-income and single-parent families.”
She holds fundraising events every year, asking her friends or other people to volunteer and prepare meals to feed the hungry and homeless, especially the relatives staying at the STC wellness centre. She also provided meals to the Lighthouse and Salvation Army.
“This year, I was fortunate enough to have many people who donated to my auction. I raised funds and everyone who wanted something made their payment to GoFundMe. I raised $3,300 plus $2,000 worth of gift cards,” said Hrbachek.
She was pleased the STC had stepped up to open up a facility to help the homeless and those who struggle with substance abuse issues, which she hopes should not be happening in the community.
“While STC is helping our people in the community, I am here to back them up as much as I can. I am just one person trying to come up with a solution and I’m going to be there to support the people on the ground making a change,” said Hrbachek.
“STC’s wellness centre is near and dear to my heart. As long as they do this, I will be here helping them. It feels wonderful; no amount of money will make me feel better than the moment of helping someone who needs it.”
