Bakers Against Racism donate proceeds to Black Lives Matter funds

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Thursday, July 9, 2020
Bakers Against Racism donate proceeds to Black Lives Matter funds
Local bakers joined a nationwide bake sale that donated proceeds to Black Lives Matter funds.

Local bakers joined in on a nationwide bake sale called Bakers Against Racism. The movement started in Washington D.C. with the goal of selling baked goods and donating the proceeds to Black Lives Matter funds.

"We hopped on board because it's something that's perfectly suited for us," said Village Bakery and Café co-owner Barbara Monderine-Willams.

"We want to help in the community, but it's hard when you're an essential worker and you have to be in here the whole time. It's really frustrating to not be able to get out on the streets and to march with everyone else," Monderine-Willams said.

The Village Bakery and Café in the Atwater Village neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA sold boxes of baked doughnuts for $20 and all of the proceeds went toward Black Votes Matter.

Home baker Christina Wong started making cookies as soon as she heard about the idea: "I saw a lot of bakers in the LA area who were doing bake sales, and I wanted to do it. But I hesitated because it just felt like so much work."

"But as soon as I saw this Baker's Against Racism campaign go up, I was like, I have to do it," Wong said.

Wong has raised more than $2,000 for Black Lives Matter LA and baked more than 600 cookies.

"People would say, you know, 'I'm just a home baker, I don't know if I can do this.' And I said, 'No, you're not just a home baker, you're powerful. You have a voice and you can do this,'" she said.

Heather Sperling, co-owner of Botanica Restaurant and Market in Silver Lake, said they're donating their bake sale proceeds to Black Lives Matter LA and Gather 4 Justice.

"Up until a couple weeks ago, I really believed that my business as a restaurant was a largely apolitical restaurant," said Sperling.

"And I learned very quickly, as I'm happy to see a lot of other small business owners have learned, that actually part of being a responsible business owner or a responsible member of your community, is using whatever platform you have to broadcast the things that you think are really important," Sperling said.