Baking for Perry: Stop & Smell the Flours owner Daphane Bjork offers love from her kitchen
Daphane Bjork spent hours making pies.
About 80 pies. 600 slices.
All for a cause close to her heart and many other Iowans.
Stop & Smell the Flour's Pies for Perry offered sweet slices of love and comfort on Thursday, Jan. 11, in flavors like apple, cherry, lemon meringue, pecan, and French silk.
The slices were served free of charge to residents in the Perry community, the Iowa town that experienced the tragedy of a school shooting Jan. 4.
Eleven-year-old Ahmir Jolliff, longtime Perry principal Dan Marburger and 17-year-old gunman Dylan Butler died. Four other students and a staff member were injured in the attack.
Like many Iowans, news of the shooting stunned Bjork, a Kelley resident who owns the licensed home bakery called Stop & Smell the Flours.
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Local baker has life-long Iowa ties
Bjork grew up in Adel, a community neighboring Perry.
She knew she had to do something to help the Bluejay community, especially for the students and staff who were traumatized by the shooting. She also wanted to involve the entire town, which is still feeling the reverberations of the violence.
“I grew up in Adel. As a child, I remember walking into the high school and I remember walking into the old junior high that’s no longer there,” Bjork said. “It hits close to home. It’s hard to wrap your mind around.”
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Baking for Perry stirs emotions
The entire baking process leading up to the Jan. 11 event was one of love and affection.
“It’s pretty tough to do these projects sometimes,” Bjork said, with a voice choked with emotion. “Some people can contribute financially and it’s a great thing for the families of the victims, because they’re going to need it.”
But Bjork believes there are other ways of showing you care, and right now, the Perry community needs some love.
Caring can be as simple as a hug. A conversation in the grocery store.
“Or maybe it’s just something good to eat," Bjork said. "Something to snack on."
Her baking support started with a beautiful cake, frosted with Perry-blue icing and script that read “Bluejay Strong.”
She posted a photo of the cake on her business’ Facebook page and started an auction to benefit the family of Ahmir Jolliff.
Bjork remembers the emotional struggle as she began to prep.
“(Last week), I had cakes to start getting ready for children's birthday. How (was) I supposed to work on these cakes when a child's life was just taken?" Bjork said. "The entire day I could barely work. I couldn't think. I cried.
I literally sat in shock all day. Finding myself holding and kissing (my daughter) Everleigh all day long,” read Bjork's Jan. 5 social media post.
“As a parent, I am finding it hard time wrapping my mind around sending my child to school in almost 3 years. My stomach and heartache," her post continued. "I can't imagine getting the phone calls and texts that all of those parents & guardians did yesterday."
So she started a 6-inch round cake topped with five edible balls and a chocolate-covered strawberry heart. By 8 p.m. that first night, a winning bid of $300 had been awarded, with funds send to the Jolliff family.
Pies for Perry was an opportunity for fellowship
The cake and auction helped one family, but Bjork wanted to do more. She began offering free pie to as many Perry residents as she could.
She baked the pies and headed west to Perry, determined to make an even bigger difference.
Kids and adults visited the Fireside Room at the First United Methodist Church in Perry, for a slice of pie and a piece of normalcy. Some sat at tables and ate their pie, enjoying a church's familiar fellowship.
Others showed up and got slices to go.
The free pie sparked stories of pain and suffering as the community scrambles to cope with tragedy. One mom told Bjork about her child who refused to leave the house after the shooting.
“That was a pretty hard conversation for me to have as a mother of a young child, but also as a mom talking to another mom who needs help,” Bjork told the Ames Tribune.
Sandwich cookies to benefit Marburger's family
Bjork hasn't stopped baking for Perry. Her next effort is to honor the late Dan Marburger, who worked in the Perry School District for 30 years.
She’s taking orders for “M&M Cookie Sandwiches for Mr. Marburger," made with sweet buttercream frosting sandwiched between two cookies.
“The colorful M&M's represent the joy & happiness Dan spread throughout his family & students. The sweet filling represents the kindness that Dan filled in everyones hearts,” she wrote in a Facebook post.
Six cookie sandwiches can be purchased for $18 or $30 for a dozen. All proceeds will be given to Marburger’s family.
Orders can be placed by messaging Bjork through her business Facebook page, Stop & Smell the Flours, or by email at stopandsmelltheflours@gmail.com.
Ronna Faaborg is a reporter for the Ames Tribune. Reach her at rlawless@gannett.com.
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This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: How an Iowa baker is supporting victims of the Perry school shooting
