North York sisters turn passion for baking into COVID fundraiser
Emily Froman had a busy summer lined up: a trip to Singapore and a job at a downtown behavioural economics company.
Her younger sister, Maya, meanwhile, was looking forward to working as a counsellor at a sleepover camp and volunteering in Israel.
But like many other university students, their summer plans fell through due to the pandemic. “It was hard, and I was frustrated,” said Emily, a biomechanical engineering student at Queen’s University. “Everything was kind of crumbling.”
Amid the uncertainty, the North York sisters literally cooked up a plan to fill their time for a good cause.
The sisters, along with three neighbourhood friends, banded together to focus on their passion for baking while supporting their community during the pandemic.
Since late May, they’ve been selling home-baked goods, including include an assortment of cookies, tarts, pies, cakes, challah and baguettes, with proceeds to be donated to the Jewish Family and Child Service’s COVID Relief Fund.
“We had some time on our hands. We figured that we should use this time to be giving back,”
Emily said. “It’s a good way to do something and benefit others and also take up our time, and that’s where the idea started.” Emily, 21, created a website, scratchbakeshop.com, and used social media to market the goodwill initiative.
“It took off from there,” she said. “We ended up making a ton of sales.”
Emily said there were 35 to 40 orders per week in the early days, though that has since decreased.
The sisters and their friends, who all live in the Avenue Road and Lawrence Avenue area, bake twice weekly, Wednesdays and Fridays, and personally provide contactless delivery to customers’ porches and front doors. They have raised more than $7,000.
Neighbour Bella Marrello has been a supporter of the initiative since it launched two months ago. “I think I’m their number one customer,” she said. “It’s really nice to see young adults, especially during this unique time for everyone, put something together to help out the community during this COVID period.”
The COVID relief fund, run by Jewish Family and Child Service, helps support a wide range of services and helps deal with “the influx of new calls asking for support, both emotional and financial, as a result of COVID-19,” according to the organization’s website.
Marrello said she’s been ordering about eight baked goods per week to support the fundraising initiative.
“They have the best butter tarts and cinnamon buns I’ve ever had,” she said. “I found that their items were great if I needed a gift or if I wanted to give something to the office.”
Emily said she’s been spending about 20 hours per week on the project, which she says has also taught her “good skills” in marketing and business.
“It’s just been an easy and effective way of doing something productive with our time.”
But she noted she has no plans on baking professionally or as a side gig in the future.
“But it’s been fun for the summer,” she added.