Natalie Dubose had a dream to open her own business — a bakery and cake shop along a busy thoroughfare in Ferguson, MO. In June, she opened Natalie’s Cakes & More and, by most accounts, was making a go of the concern.
But on Monday night, rioters broke her display windows and trashed several very expensive baking machines.
But Dubose wouldn’t give up. And with a little help from the likes of Rush Limbaugh and actress Patricia Heaton, it looks like her dream is still alive.
Washington Times:
A Ferguson bakery owner says she is “so humbly blessed” after receiving nearly $100,000 in online donations to repair her shop that was damaged by looters.
Natalie Dubose, who owns Natalie’s Cake’s & More at 100 S. Florissant Road in Ferguson, said rioters damaged the shop’s windows and baking equipment overnight Monday, after a grand jury decided not to indict Officer Darren Wilson for the Aug. 9 fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
Ms. Dubose started a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to repair her shop and has received a wave of support, including from “The Middle’s” Patricia Heaton and “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Brandi Glanville.
“Thank you to actresses Patricia Heaton and Brandi Glanville for supporting me!” she wrote in an update on her page. “I must have missed thousands of other tweets, and I’m so sorry I can’t mention them all. The sweet lady who offered money from her social security check brought me to tears … Thank you to EVERYONE for the kind words, prayers, and emotional support.”
The account reached $98,241 in only 20 hours since it was created.
“May God turn this tragedy to a lesson in the power of the love of strangers,” wrote one donor. “I stand with you Natalie and pray God’s blessing and protect on you!”
“Natalie, along with my little bit of money goes all my prayers and thoughts for your success,” wrote another. “Hang in there and stay strong. I am rooting for your continued presence in Ferguson — we have to keep your community strong, with love and hope. Best Wishes.”
Two total (white) strangers originally set up the Go Fund Me accounts.
Crazy day! TWO official GoFundMe’s http://t.co/NQNAIGwdGJ OR http://t.co/t2rMJGqAJX Thanks to @davekswingle and @Nightingalicing XOXO N
— Ferguson’s Natalie (@Ferg_Natalie) November 25, 2014
Limbaugh devoted a segment of his show to the fundraising effort and has a widget on his website linking to the Go Fund Me page:
A poor woman saved up everything to open her cake store in Ferguson. She’s African-American and she had nothing to do with any of this that went down, but her store got destroyed. So people set up a couple of Web links for Americans to donate to give her a chance to rebuild. I don’t even know if she had anything to do with it. I think others set it up for her. Not sure about that.
Anyway, so many of you are coming through on this that it’s really heartwarming to see. Did you go check it out? I had a couple people tell me that a lot of you are logging in and donating. I think it’s great, and you’re renewing people’s faith, or you’re solidifying it in some cases, which is also what I want to do later in the program with the true story of Thanksgiving.
A great Thanksgiving story.
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