First Week!!!
I have written a lot about Love City’s emphasis on economic sustainability. From the perspective of it being one of the organization's four pillars, how it helps the school, how it creates jobs, how it creates spaces for the community to come together. However there is also another aspect, which is helping entrepreneurs and dreamers when we can. It is an aspect of economic sustainability that is not as visible as the others unless you're behind the scenes, but it is a part of our mission that has existed since the beginning.
If you have followed Love City for a while you may remember that pre-Covid we had an adult education program called Hustleville. This program took dreamers through months of education, training, and experimenting to turn their dream into a reality. It paired the learners with business mentors and allowed them to be taught from people who had already had success in their field of interest. We graduated multiple cohorts from this curriculum and saw many businesses be launched from it. Post-Covid as our attention began to be pulled more towards adolescent education, we did not bring Hustleville back in a formal capacity. That doesn’t mean that we don’t continue to look for ways to support entrepreneurs in their businesses when we can.
Shawn and Inga met Dezie while doing a radio spot for a fundraiser. As they got to know her, they discovered that she was trying to get a baked goods business off the ground from her home kitchen. Knowing that we had some time throughout the week that our commercial kitchen was not being used, he invited Dezie to try it out if she needed. She had actually already been on the search for a commercial kitchen. So, Dezie came to check it out and seeing that it had everything she needed, she asked Shawn how much he wanted for rent. His response? “This is to help get you off the ground, don’t worry about us, and if you feel like you owe us something in the future then fine.”
That is how community businesses should treat each other, giving one other support when they can. When we have a kitchen that isn’t used from Saturday-Monday every week then why wouldn’t we let someone use it to help get their dream off the ground? How selfish would it be of us to not provide that when there are so many local businesses that support us in what we do. Just this week we had Heine Brothers utilize one of our spaces in exchange for free coffee and baked goods for our staff, Mark’s Feedstore and Edward Jones brought groups of volunteers down to help us in St Cecilia, and What Chefs Want donated the food we need for the school. When individuals are in community, they are supposed to help one another, when businesses are in community they should do the same thing.
Now every Monday, when we’re preparing lunch for Mighty Oak we get to smell fresh baked cookies and every once in a while, a taste test. To get a taste for yourself you can order some of Dezie’s cookies or pound cake from her website https://deziecakes.myshopify.com/ .
Ethan Essex
Mighty Oak Supplies Lists!!!
The start of the school year is here. If you would like to support through purchasing supplies, it’s not too late. You can find those lists here:
Supply Wishlist: https://a.co/4IDGPaN
Snack List: https://a.co/g4DnQYr
Merriment Moving!!!
Merriment will be closed for the time being while we move to the Saint Cecilia Campus. If you would still like to make a donation, please call (502) 930-9006 to arrange a time to drop off.
Fish Fry Open!!!
The Fish Fry is OPEN! We look forward to seeing you so you can get your fix of fish, churched up tots, or whatever else is calling your name! Don’t forget to grab some fresh local produce when you stop by.
If you are interested in volunteering or to find out more information about supplies needed please email: info@lovecityinc.org or call (502) 272-078.