Our Purpose
Laughing Bear Bakery is a St. Louis non-profit work skills reintegration program for ex-offenders who are working very hard to start a new life. At Laughing Bear, these men and women receive on-the-job training in a commercial kitchen, learning to create a wide array of delicious treats that we sell across the metropolitan St. Louis area.
Every year, thousands of men and women are released from state and federal prisons and returned to their communities without a job, a car, a home, and without an income to help replace all those basic necessities of life. Yet, society asks - demands - of them that they hit the ground running, as if they can do it on their own. Statistics prove that without the security of a job, these men and women are more than likely to give up trying to supply their own food, clothing, shelter and transportation, and find themselves back in prison. For the safety of our communities and for the greater good of everyone - we are called to step up and help these men and women reset their lives.
LAUGHING BEAR BAKERY is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and we need your tax-deductible donation to continue the mission of providing on-the-job, paid training and work experience for ex-offenders. We've been at this since 2015 and our track record is successful. To-date - we know of only one of our bakers who returned to prison. That is a statistic that proves that paid employment is critical to the goal of ending recidivism for good.
How We Got Our Name
How We Named Our Bakery
People often wonder how Laughing Bear Bakery ended up with its name. Well, it all started with our good friend Victoria. She was Native American, and her spirit animal was the mighty bear. Victoria was a real asset in getting the bakery up and running, especially when it came to dealing with all the tax paperwork.
Sadly, she passed away in 2015, and we wanted to honor her memory by naming the bakery after her. Victoria’s? The only problem was, we didn't want people mixing up Laughing Bear Bakery with Victoria's Secret, you know, the lingerie store. So, in the spirit of Victoria's laughter and her bear totem, we settled on the name Laughing Bear Bakery. It just seemed like the perfect fit.
Meet Our Founder
St. Louis native Kalen McAllister is the founder of Laughing Bear Bakery. A woman of great vision and talent, she finds creative ways to put her wide range of knowledge and interests toward the service of others. Following her education at St. Louis University and Webster University, she developed and managed the non-profit Carcinogen Information Program as an independent organization, putting together a governing body of well-known researchers in this field, including Linus Pauling.
In 1980 Kalen founded the very popular landscaping company, Plantasia, serving St. Louisans for over 30 years with her imaginative, designer installations of water gardens and stone features such as caves, walkways, and walls.
A long-time practitioner of Zen, Kalen was active in the operation of the Missouri Zen Center for many years. In 2004 she co-founded Inside Dharma, an organization dedicated to assisting prisoners in practical matters, as well as supporting their practice of meditation and Buddhism.
In 2007 Kalen was ordained as a priest by The Rev. Shoken Winecoff at Ryumonji Monastery near Decorah, Iowa. From 2009 to 2015, Kalen divided her time between her duties as the only woman Buddhist priest prison chaplain in the State of Missouri and Shinzo Sangha in University City. The Sangha is Kalen's home base for teaching Buddhism and meditation, as well as organizing a variety of events and ministries for the homeless and prisoners. In 2009 she received an award from the Women’s Buddhist Council in Chicago for her work with prisoners in Missouri. Kalen received dharma transmission in 2012, and was formally recognized as a dharma teacher at ceremonies in Japan.
An avid home-baker, Kalen’s chocolate bourbon pecan pies and other holiday treats developed a loyal following in St. Louis, as Kalen annually offered home-made desserts in the fund-raising events she organized to help support Inside Dharma. Finally, in 2015, Kalen found a way to combine her love of baking with the ever-growing need for reentry help for ex-offenders when they are returned to St. Louis. She organized the volunteers and funding necessary to open Laughing Bear Bakery, utilizing a commercial kitchen in the Carondelet neighborhood of St. Louis. After a couple of moves the bakery found its current home at 4001 Utah, where we celebrated our 10th anniversary in a building we now own.