Lincoln bakery raises money to pay off student lunch debt

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – Many of us are settling in to celebrate with family and friends, but thousands of Lincoln residents are struggling to put food on the table, let alone gifts under the tree.

Butterfly Bakery set out to make its holiday treats do a little more for the community this year for Christmas Eve.

The ringing of a bell–for each new customer entering the butterfly bakery–made a steady jingle on one of the shop’s busiest days.

All 15 employees were up early, preparing for the holiday rush, but today’s cupcakes and cinnamon rolls sales didn’t just help the bakery’s bottom line. The bakery–located near thirty-third and pioneers–had a dine-out for a special cause.

“Usually, we leave august to december without dine outs because we need a little bit of time, and holidays are crazy enough as it is,” Zander Rogers, the executive assistant at Butterfly Bakery, said. “But we decided that we needed one big day to show up and do something big.”

Ten percent of the proceeds will go to help LPS students pay off their lunch debt. Something that hits close to home to many of the bakery’s staff.

“I grew up not having very much money, so I was personally affected by days where our lunch bill or balance wasn’t paid,” Jenn Dunn, co-owner of the bakery, said.

“Growing up, I was on reduced and free lunches in school, and I knew that if I would ever lose that, I wouldn’t be able to afford school lunches,” Rogers said.

Their aim is to help the kids who fall through the cracks and eliminate as much debt as possible. They’ll bring what they raised to LPS at the beginning of the year,

“Had someone done something like this for me, it would have made a huge difference in my life personally,” Dunn said.

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