SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) – As Election Day dawned in Syracuse, a tradition was reinstated at Bellevue Heights Methodist Church and Nursery School in the city’s Strathmore Neighborhood.
For the first time since 2019, the polling place held its Election Day bake sale, with all the money going toward the Bellevue Heights Nursery School.
“Many of the voters when they’d come and we didn’t have the bake sale would say that they came for the bake sale and then to vote,” said Gretchen Kinnell, one of the volunteers at Bellevue Heights.
Kinnell and her husband Chris both have ties to the church and school. Chris served as the pastor at Bellevue Heights from 1999 to 2008. Gretchen has been on the board of nursery school for the last ten years. Together, they took the first volunteer shift, selling sweet treats from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m.
The Kinnells agree that the bake sale helps to foster a sense of community in the Strathmore Neighborhood.
“I think it’s a great way to reconnect with people we haven’t seen recently,” Chris said. “It kind of offers us that chance to tell our stories to each other.”
“There’s just as much hugging as there is selling,” said Gretchen. “We’ve known a lot of the people here for years. We’ll stop them and talk about our kids and their kids.”
With an uptick of voters before the workday began, the Kinnells expect that this will be one of the most successful bake sales to date.
“We’ve already raised a few hundred dollars in two hours,” Gretchen said. “We’re fully stocked and we hope voters will keep turning out.”
This year’s bake sale happens to fall on the 50th anniversary of Bellevue Heights’ opening. The sale will last until the polls close at 9 p.m.
