Fabio Cornale has crafted a street of gingerbread dreams.
Cornale, who owns Bella Cakes and Pastries in Sapperton with his wife Gina, has created a gingerbread house as part of an annual charity raffle. This year's gingerbread masterpiece includes four buildings - Bella Cakes and Pastries, fellow Sapperton businesses Manny's Barbershop and Cadeaux Gifts and Home Embellishments, and a row house to round out the block.
"This year's creation is basically four little shops," he said. "I started cutting out pieces. It just comes to you."
After baking slabs of gingerbread, the baker gets to work cutting out shapes and putting it together. Once it's been able to set overnight, Cornale gets to the fun part - decorating, a process that took about four hours.
"I love it. It is the highlight of my Christmas," he said. "The whole month when it is on display people get to enjoy it. The best part of it is you get to raise money for charity."
Bella Cakes and Pastries will donate the proceeds of this year's gingerbread raffle to the New Westminster food bank. As always, people can buy raffle tickets (one for $1, three for $2 and eight for $5).
This year's fundraiser features a new twist - raffle tickets can also be obtained by bringing in nonperishable donations for the food bank (one item gets two tickets, two items gets five tickets, and three items gets eight tickets).
"I thought I'd make it fun," Cornale said.
The gingerbread house raffle is now underway at the bakery, located at 459 East Columbia St. in Sapperton. The draw will be held on Saturday, Dec. 22 at 1 p.m.
In past years, Bella Cakes and Pastries' gingerbread house raffle has raised funds for Monarch Place transition house, the Kidney Foundation, the New Westminster Firefighters' Charitable Society and the New Westminster Police Department's victims services.
"I like giving it to different people," Cornale said. "They are very appreciative."
Folks who drop by Bella Cakes and Pastries during the month of December are equally appreciative of the effort that goes into creating the masterpiece.
"It's awesome," Cornale said. "They spend time looking at it. I try and put as much detail on it as I can."
