Bakery helps employees cope with coronavirus pandemic while also helping the community

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    FAYETTEVILLE, AR (KFSM) — The Rockin’ Baker is a local bakery in Fayetteville that has always had a mission to help people with intellectual disabilities transition into the working world, but now they’re also helping give back to the community.

In just over a week, a few employees at Rockin’ Baker have made 3,700 buns to give to those in need.

“I’m very privileged. I have food. But there’s so many people in our community who don’t have any,” owner Damarya Baker said.

Baker says although she chose to close down the bakery for normal business, she wanted to keep the ovens running for a purpose.

“I decided to team up with seed the feed and launch the campaign rise up together to be able to bring the cadets…some of the cadets and them be able to keep the physical distance but at the same time be able to produce food for food banks, schools and low-income communities,” Baker said.

Baker says along with helping the community, she’s trying to help her employees with intellectual disabilities cope during this hard time by keeping their lives as normal as possible.

“It’s really hard from them to disconnect totally from what is in the news it is so overwhelming for people like us and its overwhelming for people like us imagine how hard it is for people like them,” Baker said.

Employee Luis Bucio says he is thankful to continue working because it not only helps him, it helps others.

“Relaxing, I give it my best to help the community in this sad situation—the coronavirus,” Bucio said.

If you want to help Luis help the community you can donate to Rockin’ Baker as well as many other organizations by participating in NWA Gives.

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