The Bust-A-Crust Campaign Raised $59,000 through pie sales, donations and partnership to feed local seniors
CINCINNATI— Hundreds of pies are ready for pickup at Meals on Wheels Southwest OH & Northern KY on Saturday November 21 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. as part of its first annual Bust a Crust! fundraiser. The new program allowed people to purchase locally baked Thanksgiving pies—available in pumpkin, apple, and pecan—and all funds go towards feeding local seniors, with the $25 cost per pie feeding a senior for an entire week. The first year for Bust a Crust! was such a success that Meals on Wheels sold out of pies before the campaign was set to end.
“We are so grateful to our community for supporting the Bust a Crust! program to help us raise the necessary funds to meet the increasing need in our community so no senior goes hungry this holiday season,” said Jennifer Steele, CEO of Meals on Wheels Southwest OH & Northern KY. “Requests for our Meals on Wheels services have nearly tripled since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March, so we are doing everything in our power to help feed local seniors so they can stay healthy, safe and independent in their homes.”
The heartwarming turnout for this event not only included people purchasing pies for themselves, but people purchasing pies to donate to local seniors, making additional donations, and sponsoring the program. From October 19 to November 16, the campaign reached:
- 1,767 pies sold or donated to seniors
- $59,000 raised to deliver meals to seniors
- 63 community volunteers volunteered more than 178 hours
- 26 corporate partners
Bust a Crust! would not be possible without the pie masters who generously donated pies, including:
Busken, Kroger, Chartwells, Fork and Pie Bakery, The Lytle Park Hotel, Mama Rose’s, Nay Mama’s Sweet Treats, Perkins Restaurant & Bakery, Taste of Belgium. In addition, the program received significant support from corporate sponsors: Wordsworth Communications, Robert Half, Graydon, the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, Barnes Denning, J.T.M Food Group, Accessible Solutions Inc., Alison & Lee Bushman, Derringer Food Service, Hyde Park United Methodist Church, Millennium Business Systems, Preferred Packaging Sales & Service, Reinhart Foods, Skyline, Storyocity, and the TQL Foundation.