Oceanside business funds local peace organizations

By: DAVID FRIED - Staff Writer | Friday, June 24, 2005 11:26 PM PDT ∞

OCEANSIDE ---- Nothing on the simple packaging of Pacific Bakery breads claims it will change the world. But the organic, yeast-free products produced at the Oceanside bakery of Chuck Lowery have brought Fernando Suarez del Solar one step closer to doing just that.

The Escondido man's son, U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Jesus Suarez del Solar, was killed in Iraq on March 27, 2003, the first week of the war there.

Since then, Fernando Suarez del Solar has travelled around the country to more than 130 high schools, recounting the painful loss of his son, and trying to convince students not to join the armed forces or otherwise support the war in Iraq. He has visited Iraq and Lebanon to deliver medicine to children, and Mexico, his native country, to push for peace.

Much of that activity has been funded through donations from Lowery's bakery, Suarez del Solar said.

"Pacific Bakery, for me, has been of great support, because, aside from monetary donations, they've donated bread which we can then turn around and sell to raise more money," said Suarez del Solar, whose organization is called Guerrero Azteca.

Along with Suarez del Solar's anti-war efforts, Lowery supports about two dozen peace and human rights groups, many of them in San Diego.

Giving to a cause he believes in is nothing new, Lowery said. Since he opened his bakery in 1987, Lowery had supported organic food organizations. But his philanthropic efforts truly started to take shape with the beginning of the current war in Iraq and his subsequent encounter with Suarez del Solar, he said.

"It was like waking up shortly after the Iraq invasion," said Lowery, 54. "I thought everything was kind of OK in America and then we invaded Iraq and I thought that was kind of bizarre."

In the spring of 2003, Lowery saw Suarez del Sol on a local newscast talking about the death of his son and his desire to keep teens from signing up for the armed forces.

"I heard him saying things that sounded so much like what I wanted to support," Lowery said.

After a brief, but intense hunt for Suarez del Solar's contact information, Lowery was able to track down an e-mail address and quickly sent off his message of support, along with a few hundred dollars. Since then Lowery has made regular contributions, totaling in the tens of thousands, both men said.

Lower said he enjoys helping Suarez del Solar rather than funneling all his charitable donation to larger national organizations, where the money can just as easily go toward helping individuals as covering the cost of running phone banks.

"I don't have to worry about how much of the money goes into his work, because it all goes into it," Lowery said.

Most recently Lowery committed $5,000 to Suarez del Solar's scholarship fund, which will launch this summer with a gift of $400 for two local students heading to California colleges.

Lowery also decided to donate 30 cents from the sale of each loaf of his Spelt White Cinnamon Raisin Bread to the scholarship. The loaves sell for between $3.99 and $4.99.

Because of slipping sales of the raisin bread, Trader Joe's ---- which buys five types of Pacific Bakery bread and is Lowery's biggest client ---- has said it may need to stop ordering the product later this summer, according to Lowery.

So in an effort to keep his sales up at the specialty market and continue helping the cause he so deeply believes in, Lowery decided to tie some scholarship money to the raisin bread sales.

"If it doesn't work out, we'll still give the money we promised," Lowery said. "But if people want to support us and support Fernando's work, it's an easy thing for everybody to do."

Martin Eder, executive director of Activist San Diego, a nonprofit group that handles Guerrero Azteca's finances, said Lowery's support has been unique among local businesses.

"It's very rare to meet a savvy business person who seems to want ... to make his business thrive so he can become a better philanthropist," Eder said.

Joni K. Craig, executive director of the San Diego Foundation for Change, which provides seed money to activist groups on matters ranging from peace to immigration, and gay and lesbian rights, agreed. Lowery's $5,000 annual donation puts him among the largest single contributors to the 22-year-old organization, Craig said.

"Most businesses and corporations won't invest in social change," Craig said. "They'd rather do social service or children's health care, things that are safe and more popular. Chuck is willing to take risks to fund the things that he cares about, but aren't always so popular at the moment."

Contact staff writer David Fried at (760) 740-5416 or dfried@nctimes.com

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