Deidre Lotecki of Sweet Relief Pastries made rhubarb cake with rescued rhubarb

Deidre Lotecki is the pastry chef and owner of Sweet Relief Pastries, an eclectic, colourful bakery in Victoria Park, that focuses on wedding cakes, cake-by-the-slice, and cakelettes (mini cakes for two to four people). When Deidre opened Sweet Relief, she had been concerned about food waste because new bakeries, often, don’t know how much they should produce – which led her to Leftovers. Leftovers is “super easy to work with,” Deidre said, “[volunteers] were happy to come pick up our leftovers…and bring it to the people who really need it which is amazing.” Deidre likes collaborating with local charities because it offers her a chance to connect with people in her community. “I feel like everyone has their own experiences,” Deidre said, “sometimes people have gone through things that you haven’t, and they’re always there to help; especially people in Calgary.” Deidre baked rhubarb cake-by-the-slice, filled with rhubarb compote, with locally donated rhubarb through Anew. Leftovers has impacted Sweet Relief by bringing in conscious consumers, who value their charitable nature – “Our community is everything,” Deidre said, “we want to get out and be a part of it and support them, because they support us and it makes all the difference in the world for our business.”