Dessert shop is a festive, fundraising wonderland
Feeling festive and in the giving spirit? The Sweet Spot in Virginia Beach wants to see you.
The decked-out, pink dessert shop on Providence Road is hosting its Holiday Experiential Pop-Up, displaying 1,500 stuffed animals, dolls and toys that Sweet Spot CEO Mery Ghattas bought at Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters thrift stores.
Customers can donate to CHKD at the store and The Sweet Spot will match up to $4,000 in donations. The money will help the hospital’s oncology ward. Donations can also be made on Instagram at @thesweetspotvb or on the hospital’s website at tinyurl.com/CHKDDonate2021.
Each donation earns a raffle entry and the prize is worth $2,000, including gift cards for businesses such as Ivy Glam Beauty Bar on Virginia Beach Boulevard, Elite European Day Spa in Ghent and CycleBar in Virginia Beach.
Ghattas is thrilled that visitors will see how she bought, restored and cleaned the items from CHKD stores and accessorized them for Christmas.
Planning started two months ago and setup took more than 80 hours, she said. The pop-up will be available until Dec. 23; donations will be accepted through Christmas Eve.
“I was literally driving to like Portsmouth and Newport News and every place that had a CHKD thrift store,” she said. “The
only things that did not come from a thrift store were the Christmas ornaments and the greenery. Everything else was refurbished.”
By the time she was done, she had a storage unit full of toys.
She took wooden boards with holes in them and attached toys using zip ties and fishing line. The team closed the store for three days to transform it into a winter wonderland.
In addition to the decorations, the dessert shop will also have food trucks and visits with Santa every Sunday.
The company has also revamped its menu for the holidays, adding Christmas
milkshakes topped with chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches and hot cocoa bombs. Guests buy the chocolatey drinks, pour the hot chocolate over the chocolate spheres and watch them melt.
There are also new funnel cakes: hot apple seasoned with caramel and cinnamon, and a Nutella, banana and strawberry. The is also be available at the Oceanfront location on Atlantic Avenue.
Visit facebook.com/ thesweetspotvb or iamthesweetspot.com for more information.