DAYTON — The staff at Evans Bakery in Dayton say they have felt helpless watching the news that has continued to come out of Ukraine, so they decided to cook up something special in hopes of helping Ukrainians.
The bakery is making and selling honey cakes, a traditional Ukrainian baked good, for $2 a piece to raise money for Voices of Children, a Ukrainian-based organization.
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“I’m glad no one’s handing me a gun to defend my own home, but I’m happy to raise a little bit of money to help children that have nothing to do with this, that are caught in the middle,” Jennifer Evans, owner of Evans Bakery, said.
The idea came from Michael Tenney, a baker at Evans Bakery, who said he found the recipe for the honey cakes on an online blog.
“I found the recipe from a lady who’s a Ukrainian immigrant to the United States,” Tenney said.
Tenney said the idea to make the treats came from a place of helplessness.
“I was feeling like there wasn’t anything I could do,” Tenney said.
He then thought about the skills he does have and with one of them being baking, he found something he could do.
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In the first few days of selling the cakes, Tenney raised over $700.
“Most of what the people said when they came to pick it up was ‘Thank you. I didn’t know where to go and I didn’t know how to help,’” Tenney said.
He said when he discovered Voice of Children, he knew that was who he wanted to help. The organization, Tenney said, does psychotherapy and art therapy for children who have been affected by armed conflict.
Tenney said having personally witnessed the benefits of therapy, he knew it would be helpful for the Ukrainian children living through war.