MAKER: Rita Ballenger, founder and volunteer
BUSINESS: Abolition Bakery
WHY THEY BAKE: Abolition Bakery has two main missions. One is to raise awareness of human trafficking and the other is to donate funds (more than $10,000 to date) to organizations that serve survivors of human trafficking. The staff is all volunteers.
AFTER RETIREMENT: Upon retirement from the medical field and working at Tri-C, Ballenger received several free credit hours of classes from the school, which led her to a culinary program. Her new-found kitchen skills led to baking bread and cupcakes. In addition, while all this was going on, she one found herself attending a talk about human trafficking.
鈥淲hen I went to the human trafficking presentation in 2011, I fully expected that they were going be talking about human trafficking in the third world, I had no idea it was here鈥n my city,鈥� she said.
Ballenger and her assistants bake over a dozen loaves of her signature sourdough bread each week to sell at area farmers鈥� markets. In addition to the bread, Abolition Bakery also creates cupcake bouquets, which can be special ordered.
WHAT鈥橲 NEXT: 鈥淢y ultimate goals are to continue what we鈥檙e doing, and to raise more awareness working with specifically young girls. I just want to get the word out to them about the risk factors of human trafficking, so they鈥檙e less at risk,鈥� Ballenger said.
She hopes that one day she can provide vocational training for survivors of human trafficking.
