Former nurse who's now a bakery owner aims to feed frontline healthcare workers
The owner of a Kansas City bakery who used to be a nurse is now helping feed former colleagues.
Sarah Darby owns Bloom Baking Company. She left the nursing 10 years ago.
Her small business started a program called Feed the Frontline.
For her bakery to stay open during the COVID-19 pandemic, Darby said she knew she needed a different business plan.
"They came to us out of a little bit of uncertainty, because we didn't know what the future of our business was going to look like," Darby said.
Determined to help health care workers, Darby was a registered nurse for 15 years, she figured it out carefully and strategically.
"There's uncertainty, too, as a business owner, just making sure that we're doing the right thing. Do we stay open? Are we being safe?" she said.
Darby and her employees came up with the program Feed the Frontline.
"Everyone who donates through Feed the Frontline program gets an opportunity to write a personalized note," she said.
"This is from Mr. Dean, he's just thanking Truman staff for taking care of the community," Darby said.
Donations have steadily come in. Darby said she is able to keep her 15 employees working.
Last week, they made 500 meals. Darby delivers the meals to places like Truman Medical Center.
"It's a scary feeling to go into work and know you're dealing with something that's highly contagious and people are very scared of it," Darby said.
She said a good meal helps ease some of that stress.
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