Fudge and prayer? Sequim business offers up both

By Matthew Nash

Olympic Peninsula News Group

SEQUIM — Along with offerings of chocolate and lavender lemonade fudge, you can add prayer to the drive-through offerings at Carlsborg’s WeDo Fudge.

The business at 11 Valley Center Place is considered the world’s only drive-through fudge stand, according to Christina Norman, co-owner with her husband, Charles, who said they added a sign offering drive-through prayer slightly over a month ago.

“What we discovered is that people feel safe in their cars and that they’re not here for fudge but here for comfort,” Christina said.

She said fudge has an association for people, whether it’s for a neighbor or a loved one who is sick.

“People share a lot with me,” Christina said.

“My regular and monthly customers give me a snippet of their lives, so I started praying for them at home.”

She asked a few customers later on if it was OK to pray with them, which grew into the idea of putting up a sign.

Christina has had at least one person ask for prayer each day she’s open. Some are Christians and some are not.

The sign even threw one customer, who asked if she was still making fudge, she said.

Customers and those just in need of prayer are encouraged to stop by for prayer. People can fill out prayer request sheets if they’d prefer, and the Normans pray for them later.

Since the beginning of WeDo Fudge, the Normans have been upfront about their faith.

The couple attend Dungeness Community Church and use images by local photographer Ross Hamilton with Bible verses that Charles felt best fit each photo.

On their website at www.wedofudge.com, the couple say one of their principles is they “want to serve our Lord Jesus in all ‘WeDo,’ including the operation of our business.”

For that reason, they add a Bible verse to every package of fudge that bears a “WeDo Fudge” label. Wholesale customers are offered private labels without cards.

Christina has had people come through to pray for her and the business, she said. A church member stayed to pray with customers if needed.

Christina said what she does isn’t about fudge.

Her goal is for fudge to be part of, or the instigator for, a faith-based conversation.

The Normans started WeDo Fudge in 2013 at the Sequim Farmers Market and rented Rainshadow Coffee’s kitchen space to make products to see whether Sequim could support a market for fudge, Christina said.

After one season, they began operating at the stand in Carlsborg off Hooker Road simply for its kitchen space.

However, after six months, people started driving up looking for coffee, she said, so they opted to open two days a week. Their wholesale business grew, so Christina began adding days and now makes fudge on Tuesdays, cuts it on Wednesdays and delivers it on Thursdays.

“Every year, we grow a little,” she said.

Now, their fudge is sold in Washington, Oregon and California. Retail outlets include several lavender farms that provide their own lavender buds or essential oils for Christina to make their own distinct flavor of lavender fudge.

“I have two seasons: Christmas and lavender,” she joked.

Christina works from a recipe list of about 200 different kinds of fudges, she said, including diabetic recipes.

Her most popular flavor is dark chocolate sea salt caramel.

All proceeds from her peanut butter chocolate fudge support KSQM 91.5 FM this year. In recent years, that flavor’s sales have supported the Seattle Children’s Hospital Guild and a Peninsula College scholarship.

WeDo Fudge is open from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays from April through December.

Contact the business at 360-232-4656 or visit www.wedofudge.com.

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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.