One of Wanda Everly’s joys in life is shopping. Everly is a resident at The Bridges in Brandon, and with the recent COVID-19 pandemic, she is unable to leave her residency to shop and get another one of her life’s joys…carrot cake. So, a local bakery worked hard to bring carrot cake to her.
“About two weeks ago, my mom called me and said, ‘Laura, you’ve got to go Publix and get me carrot cake,’” said Laura Brundage, Everly’s daughter. “I told my mom that I wasn’t leaving the house to go to Publix and that if I did, I couldn’t bring her the carrot cake because The Bridges wasn’t allowing visitors because of the virus.”
Brundage told a close friend of hers, who lives in Maine, and after searching online for bakeries in the Brandon/Riverview area that were still open and doing deliveries, she found Moreno’s Bakery in Brandon and emailed it.
Susan Moreno, owner of Moreno’s Bakery, was initially told that she could not bring a cake to The Bridges because of the quarantine restrictions, but she asked Brundage Janet Noah, director of community relations at The Bridges, to see if there was anything she could do.
“I told her that it would be fine for Moreno’s Bakery to make a delivery,” Noah said. “Susan Moreno then reached out to me for specific instructions on the delivery protocol. During this time, we are very careful to sanitize items coming into our building. Obviously, with food items, we only disinfect the outside packaging. Susan personally delivered that cake to me in a box wrapped in a plastic bag. I had the pleasure of delivering it to Wanda and her husband, Bob.”
Moreno was thrilled that she was able to help Brundage.
“I have not been able to spend any time with my own parents because of their age and health and I think it’s important for us to do nice things for people right now,” Moreno said.
Brundage was deeply moved by everyone’s kindness and help in getting her mother and step-dad the carrot cake.
“Susan Moreno and Janet Noah are the true heroes in this cake caper,” Brundage said.
To learn more about The Bridges and the services it offers, visit www.bridgesretirement.com, for Moreno’s Bakery, visit www.morenobakery.com.
