Big bake sale benefits hurricane victims
Baked goods were flying off the shelves at the Passavant Retirement Community bake sale to help those effected by Hurricane Harvey in Texas.
The sale started at 11 a.m. Friday, and by noon the table had already been restocked several times, raising nearly $1,000 with hours to go and the lunch rush yet to begin.
All the proceeds from the bake sale went to the American Red Cross.
The event was organized by My Day Out, an organization through Passavant that helps the elderly engage in their communities and stay active.
My Day Out participant Joe Siano first raised the idea of a bake sale benefit to My Day Out organizers and volunteers, and it quickly took off.
“I’ve been in retail all my life, dealt with people all my life,” Siano said. “I heard there were people in need.”
He realized he had the time to help and came up with an idea for him and his community to get involved.
“You gotta do something,” he said. “So I went up to the boss and said ‘How about we do a little bake sale?’”
The idea quickly took off with Passavant staff, residents and Zelienople community members donating food and money to the cause.
“If we can help anyone that makes me feel good,” Siano said.
The day came and immediately the table was crowded with customers eager to patronize the stand and contribute to a good cause.
The table was piled with cookies, pies and every kind of baked goods, much of which My Day Out participants baked at Passavant.
“We made five pies, 15 dozen cookies and two loaves of bread,” said Amber Ramos, My Day Out program assistant.
Volunteers staffed the table in the lobby of the main building while others drove carts back and forth restocking it with more product.
“(It’s) wonderful,” said Ann Styers, My Day Out program assistant as she manned the table. “The prices are good ... and it’s for a good cause.”
Many made monetary donations as well, Styers said.
The economic cost of Hurricane Harvey is still being calculated, but it is expected to be well over $100 billion. And it will be many years before reconstruction is complete.
“We’re probably going to do Irma next; it’s in the works,” referring to the hurricane threatening Florida.
