Hello, my name is Chris Girardot. I'm the owner and head baker of RavenHook Bakehouse, a small artisan bakery in Washington, DC. Our bakery was recently burglarized and I’m asking for your help to keep our bakery on firm footing as we head into the critically important holiday season.

On the morning of Friday, September 29, we discovered that our bakery had been broken into overnight. The thieves stole our safe & its contents, including cash, 5 tablets & Square card readers that we use to process payments at farmers markets. They stole many bottles of jam and honey that we sell at market, and a variety of supplies that are critical to our farmers market operations. And they stole the brand-new laptop that my family had given me for my birthday just a few days earlier. That was a gut punch.

It was a scramble that day, working with the police, getting a locksmith to replace the locks, and replacing equipment so that we could still attend our usual 9 weekend markets. I’m grateful to my team for keeping the bakery running smoothly – and to my friends who lent us equipment.

While insurance will cover many of the expenses, this burglary is still setting us back from the time lost dealing with the incident, to the insurance deductible, to the additional security measures we feel compelled to invest in.

The margins at our bakery are tight because we make everything in small batches by hand, using fresh, local ingredients whenever possible. And we believe that fresh baked bread is an important food staple that should be accessible to everyone. We do our best to keep our breads reasonably priced at farmers markets across the DC area and we donate hundreds of pounds of healthy, high-quality bread each week to people struggling with hunger and food insecurity.

If you can spare a few dollars to help us cover these unexpected expenses, I promise you that we will continue to make the highest quality bread and continue supporting the local community. Thank you for your consideration.

Chris