Oct 21, 2008 4:30 pm US/Central
Bakery Offers Sweet Second Chance To Those In Need
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Baker Stanley LongBey, who is HIV-positive, once thought of himself as unemployable. Sweet Miss Givings has given him another chance and increased his confidence, he said.
CBS
A new bakery is taking on a sweet endeavor to help give some people in need a chance to start over.
At Tuesday's grand opening of Sweet Miss Givings Bakery, Mayor Richard M. Daley learned what others soon will: "The bakery goods are very good. I attest to that."
But as CBS 2's Derrick Blakley reports, what makes their sweet treats so special is the bitter past of those who produce them.
Like assistant baker Mary Pelts who said she did everything, "From gang banging, soliciting, using drugs."
"I don't do those things today," she said. "My life has done a whole 360-degree turnaround."
Baker Stanley LongBey, who is HIV-positive, once thought of himself as unemployable.
"It's the beginning for me because now I feel very confident in myself and I can do something," LongBey said.
And packaging assistant Michelle McClinton, a teen runaway was once was homeless.
"Sweet Miss Givings has given me the opportunity to become a better person," she said.
Like most of the staffers here, they're graduates of a six-week training program that gives the homeless and disabled a chance to get back on their feet, while providing customers with a double benefit.
"You get to use us and get to do good, as well as have food that tastes great," said Sweet Miss Givings CEO Rev. Stan Sloan.
The bakery is an outgrowth of Chicago House, a social service agency founded to provide housing and support for people with HIV and AIDS, which means the bakery opening isn't just providing new jobs, it's providing new hope.
"They treated me like a family member," Pelts said. "Not just an employee, family. We all are family in this bakery."
Chicago House raised more than $600,000 to get this project going.
The bakery isn't a storefront operation, but starting November 1, you can go to their Web site
SweetMissGivings.com, and order trays of muffins, scones, cookies or cupcakes for your business meeting or your party -- and they deliver. It's a sweet way to do some good.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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