Sweet Potato Comfort Pie -Lives
Donation protected
Responding to the call…keeping our eyes on the pies!
Sweet Potato Comfort Pie – a catalyst for caring and building community!
Hello. I’m Rose McGee, Founder and Creator of Sweet Potato Comfort Pie and I reside in Golden Valley, Minnesota. So here we are facing a series of horrific tragedies – the shootings in Orlando, FL; Baton Rouge, LA; Falcon Heights, MN; and Dallas, TX. It’s time for Sweet Potato Comfort Pies to be distributed as a gesture of comfort with caring healing ingredients needed for families and community to move forward. Your donation can help us fulfill our goal.
Why sweet potato pie? For me, it is the sacred dessert of Black people. I grew up in rural Jackson, Tennessee with my grandmother and great-mother. When someone was in need of comfort, those women would whip up a batch of sweet potato pies and deliver to the ailing or the mourning.
When did this mission begin? August 9, 2014…a bloody hot day. There I sat in the comfort of my air-conditioned home watching media coverage of another Black mother’s son lying lifeless on a scorching asphalt street…this time in Ferguson, Missouri. Like others prior, the news of Michael Brown’s death tore at my heart as I thought, that could have been my son. I ached for the unknown mother who would never again hear a response to her call, “Come on inside baby, it’s time to eat!” As I wept, I found myself wondering what can I do? There came a soft response (I believe from God) Go into your kitchen, make some sweet potato pies, pack your car, and deliver them down to Ferguson. So on Friday August 29, 2014, at the crack of dawn, my son Adam and I hit the road with thirty freshly baked sweet potato pies in the trunk of my car. My daughter and pastor, Roslyn created a poem to accompany each pie. Upon arrival, first, I asked permission of the person to accept a pie and soon discovered that each one had something to share about how the pie had come at just the right time. And so I listened.
In my own community of Golden Valley, MN, the Ferguson stories sparked a deeper sense of urgency for me to do more. Commemorating the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. was the perfect way to start. In less than two months, we organized over 50 intergenerational and culturally diverse community volunteers to bake 86 pies. The number depicted King’s age had he been alive in 2015. People shared personal stories such as racial disparities, bullying, and celebrations from overcoming challenging situations. Among themselves, participants then decided who to award the pies which included police departments, hospitals, school principals, politicians, individuals, students, and families.
June 17, 2015, nine African Americans killed while worshipping. Devastating! My neighbor, Eden Bart and I delivered and served 56 pies at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C. Later in November, pies were baked and taken to Precinct Four in North Minneapolis to protesters, community leaders, and police officers regarding Jamar Clark’s killing.
As we continue to keep our "eyes on the pies” and attempt to respond to the cries of Orlando, Minnesota, Dallas, Baton Rouge - please help us carry a bit of love and peace through a food item that has been a strong symbol of nurturing and comfort in our society for centuries – pie. Your donation will help cover costs of ingredients, supplies, and shipping. Baking is done by community volunteers. Thank you.
Rose McGee, Founder of Sweet Potato Comfort Pie
Golden Valley, Minnesota
Sweet Potato Comfort Pie – a catalyst for caring and building community!
Hello. I’m Rose McGee, Founder and Creator of Sweet Potato Comfort Pie and I reside in Golden Valley, Minnesota. So here we are facing a series of horrific tragedies – the shootings in Orlando, FL; Baton Rouge, LA; Falcon Heights, MN; and Dallas, TX. It’s time for Sweet Potato Comfort Pies to be distributed as a gesture of comfort with caring healing ingredients needed for families and community to move forward. Your donation can help us fulfill our goal.
Why sweet potato pie? For me, it is the sacred dessert of Black people. I grew up in rural Jackson, Tennessee with my grandmother and great-mother. When someone was in need of comfort, those women would whip up a batch of sweet potato pies and deliver to the ailing or the mourning.
When did this mission begin? August 9, 2014…a bloody hot day. There I sat in the comfort of my air-conditioned home watching media coverage of another Black mother’s son lying lifeless on a scorching asphalt street…this time in Ferguson, Missouri. Like others prior, the news of Michael Brown’s death tore at my heart as I thought, that could have been my son. I ached for the unknown mother who would never again hear a response to her call, “Come on inside baby, it’s time to eat!” As I wept, I found myself wondering what can I do? There came a soft response (I believe from God) Go into your kitchen, make some sweet potato pies, pack your car, and deliver them down to Ferguson. So on Friday August 29, 2014, at the crack of dawn, my son Adam and I hit the road with thirty freshly baked sweet potato pies in the trunk of my car. My daughter and pastor, Roslyn created a poem to accompany each pie. Upon arrival, first, I asked permission of the person to accept a pie and soon discovered that each one had something to share about how the pie had come at just the right time. And so I listened.
In my own community of Golden Valley, MN, the Ferguson stories sparked a deeper sense of urgency for me to do more. Commemorating the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. was the perfect way to start. In less than two months, we organized over 50 intergenerational and culturally diverse community volunteers to bake 86 pies. The number depicted King’s age had he been alive in 2015. People shared personal stories such as racial disparities, bullying, and celebrations from overcoming challenging situations. Among themselves, participants then decided who to award the pies which included police departments, hospitals, school principals, politicians, individuals, students, and families.
June 17, 2015, nine African Americans killed while worshipping. Devastating! My neighbor, Eden Bart and I delivered and served 56 pies at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C. Later in November, pies were baked and taken to Precinct Four in North Minneapolis to protesters, community leaders, and police officers regarding Jamar Clark’s killing.
As we continue to keep our "eyes on the pies” and attempt to respond to the cries of Orlando, Minnesota, Dallas, Baton Rouge - please help us carry a bit of love and peace through a food item that has been a strong symbol of nurturing and comfort in our society for centuries – pie. Your donation will help cover costs of ingredients, supplies, and shipping. Baking is done by community volunteers. Thank you.
Rose McGee, Founder of Sweet Potato Comfort Pie
Golden Valley, Minnesota
Organizer and beneficiary
Rose McGee
Organizer
Minneapolis, MN
Philip Lund
Beneficiary
