Ravenna – Love is in the air and there is plenty of sugar to spare to kick off the month of February. If your heart’s desire is to give gifts to those special to you while supporting a good cause, then Leeda Northeast Inc. has your sweet tooth covered.
Themed chocolates, baked goods and jellies galore were available for purchase this past Friday at the Valentine’s Sweet Treats Pop-Up shop. It was hosted for two beneficial reasons:
-to keep the momentum of the Ravenna Community Farmers Market going through the winter months, but on a smaller scale.
-For Leeda Day Program clients to learn about money management and customer services.
Program Supervisor, Tiffany Jones, explained Leeda provides day programming, residential and non-medical transportation for adults with disabilities. “The day programming teaches them vocational skills and offers services which includes getting clients out in the community and volunteering.”
It’s All Fine Consignment and Home Goods is an affiliate of Leeda. Both are privately owned and located in the same building at 6560 N. Chestnut Street, Ravenna where past outdoor markets have been held. “The clients enjoyed baking for and working at the Farmers Market,” Jones said. “We wanted to keep the idea of it out in the community and stay relevant.” Hence, the Pop-up shop with so much to offer was created and partnered with Kneaded Breads and Confections.
Kimberly Nader, owner and operator of Kneaded, was a vendor at the Fall 2019 Farmers Market, which she said helped her gauge the market for pricing and fine tuning the selection on her menu.
Nader had a wide variety of delicious goodies available for purchase at the pop-up shop. The most popular ones of the event were her (sold out) cinnamon rolls and heart-shaped pie pops. Never heard of it? Well, neither had I! I had to sample this phenomenon and I am now crazy for them. I was nice enough to share these treasures with loved ones. My Aunt Jeanne, who had a hard time deciding between the blueberry and apple pie pops, enjoyed both as an early Valentine’s Day gift. My husband, Aditya, was lucky I got extra brownies from Kneaded because they barely lasted the car ride home.
Rebecca Schaffer, a Ravenna resident, had a hard time picking what to purchase because it all looked good. She settled on the last mini-loaf bread sampler, some jellies and brownies. Her son Alex Trussel, age 2 ½, was quick to choose a pie pop. The rosie-cheeked little boy was so excited he started trying to open the package and eat it before his Mom had the chance to check out.
Jenna Schaffer, a 17-year-old junior at Rootstown High School, was very enthusiastic for the pop-up shop since her school had declared a snow day. (What teen wouldn’t be happy about that, right?) “I haven’t tried the Elvis bread yet, but it sounds great!” she said. “It is a bacon, banana and peanut butter.”
Nader aspires to open her own bakery and employ teenage foster children. Teens are the hardest to find families for and age out of the system with no saving or idea of what to do with their lives she explained. By providing a steady environment with guidance Nader seeks to improve the lives of children to become contributing members of society with bright futures. “Even if I only ever helped two kids, it would be worth it,” she said with an uplifted spirit of positivity.
The benefits of the Leeda participation in the farmers market and pop-up are two-fold for their clients. “Each year we meet and brainstorm what the clients would like to accomplish, and Dawn Liotta wanted to be able to make and sell candies”, Jones said. They take a cooking class where they learn how to create the chocolates, scones, dog treats or buckeyes, etc. depending on the holiday and season. They get paid to make, package and sell what they made and for the setup/tear down of the booth. “Any profit we make goes back into buying supplies for the next event.”
For the off season Leeda will continue to host pop-up shops on March 6th and April 3rd from 10am-2pm. Any interested vendors for now or the Summer 2020 market can call 330-552-2180 or email dayhablne@gmail.com.
