The story of the rolls began in the winter of 2015 for one simple reason – to help those in need. One day, young monks at GEBIS heard that Master Zhen-Ru was worried about the 1,500 children on the Island who could not afford to eat breakfast every day.
Quickly, these young monks formed a team and began to make dinner rolls. To this day, around 100,000 rolls have been made, and with the help of many volunteers and kind corporate partners around the Island, the rolls have been delivered to people in Charlottetown, Summerside, Montague and many other places around the Island.
For the young monks, studying in the monastery is a fulltime task. Each year, they have an exam consisting of scripture memorization, debate, and essay questions. The amount of scripture that a young monk memorizes each year often reaches up to tens of thousands of Tibetan words. Alongside their busy study schedule, these young monks still find time to make dinner rolls after their classes. This also was the case when they decided to make 2,000 more rolls each week to support the Fort McMurray forest fire relief efforts. To the young monks, as well as all of us, these rolls are a lesson of sharing, kindness, and so much more. As wheat transforms into rolls, a little happiness brings out great beauty.
