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Health & Fitness

Red Barn Bakery's Fundraising Campaign Reaches Goal

On the last day of its 30-day Kickstarter campaign, Randell Dodge's two-and-one-half-year-old Red Barn Bakery in Irvington reached it's fundraising goal of $26,000.
 
On the previous day when business drew to a close, a woman asked Dodge how the drive was going. "We'r'e close to the goal," Dodge answered. "We still have a way to go but we will get there."
 
The next morning, shortly after Dodge opened the bakery for business, she received a four-word text message from the Kickstarter organization: "Congratulations, you did it."
 
A $280 pledge from the same customer who had come in the previous day put the bakery over the top. "When I saw who made that pledge, I nearly cried," said Dodge.

As word spread, congratulatory messages and phone calls began arriving "from the community and from people who were clients during my past career as a handbag designer," Dodge said. "Some women said I gave them the strength to follow their own dreams."

The successful conclusion to the fundraising campaign made it possible for Dodge to order four new pieces of equipment that will significantly increase the bakery's daily output. The items are an additional oven, a dough sheeter, a larger commercial mixer and a dishwasher. Some of the donor money will be spent on reconfiguring the kitchen.

Dodge expects to have the new equipment installed and functional in about two months.

With the fundraising campaign over, she is devoting more time to expansion of the bakery's product line and, in a display of her entrepreneurial spirit, to the development of a catering business. 

Her newest product is a gluten-free, flat-bread, breakfast "pizzette"  made from organic farm eggs, spinach and Hudson Valley cheeses. It is gluten-free and comes in individual-size  portions ($5) or as a gigantic flat loaf that can feed about eight ($40).   

The catering business is expected to be ready for the fall and it will offer a wide selection of food choices not just the baked goods sold at the counter. 

Red Barn Bakery, 4 South Astor St., Irvington, NY, 914-231-7779, www.redbarn-bakery.com

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