When Ashley Cerrano, who previously operated Garden State Cakes in North Jersey, casually mentioned to Mississippi transplant Leah Widmer that she had always wanted to start a sweet tea and lemonade business, their new entity was formed within a few days. Initially starting with a spot in the Shoppes at Dragon’s Village in Bridgeton, within two months the pair moved their evolving business to their current location in Salem’s Historic District and Willow’s Wisp Bakery was born.
They offer their sweet tea as well as other signature beverages, custom cakes and sweets, baked goods and even breakfast sandwiches on certain days. The biggest offering at Willow’s Wisp however, is their community involvement.
“We believe very, very strongly that if you let the community support your small business you have to support the community,” Cerrano said. “We definitely make time for the community and we really just consider the community with everything we do and how it could impact them.
“In Salem we’re in this weird sweet desert, and there’s really not a lot that people can get here, and if they can, the price point is not great. So we try to make sure that everybody in Salem can afford to come here at some point. We do things like $1 cupcake day. We take a lot of pride about being able to feed the community and help them celebrate their special moments. It’s pretty cool to see a bakery back in Salem.”
In addition to making sure that their bakery allows the opportunity for all residents to enjoy their treats with reasonable prices, Ashley and Leah are both very active in various organizations in Salem. They are charter members of the newly formed Salem Kiwanis Club, where their big project goal is bringing a youth soccer league to the city. They also coach T-Ball and help with adaptive basketball and adaptive soccer, which offers a buddy system for special needs kids to play sports.
Ashley and Leah are waiting on final paperwork for their participation in the Big Brother/Big Sister organization and they actively participate in fundraising efforts in town such as a recent water bottle collection drive organized by a local school’s nurse to donate new, reusable water bottles to all the kids in the school.
They also regularly participate in Lasagna Love, a program where they cook and deliver homemade lasagnas to people for various reasons. Cerrano said the reason the people need the food does not matter.
“There are different reasons people need it,” she said. “It’s not all financial, sometimes it could just be they are going through a hard time, maybe they just had surgery, or maybe they just need some extra comfort in their life.”
Ashley and Leah are approaching their one year anniversary at the Willow’s Wisp and have big plans for expanding their reach into the Salem community.
“It’s really cool to see what kind of impact we have on people’s day to day,” Cerrano said. “We want to bring more to the people of Salem, and let them know we are here for them.”
One response to “Sweet Tea and Tasty Treats With a Huge Helping of Community Service”
I’m Tommy McCarthy. Born and raised in Salem. I visited the Bakery in Winter and told them It was Hogan’s Flower Shop way back when I was at St. Mary’s Catholic School. Told them the fact that Jeffrey Hogan’s and I had to do glass panes in front of store Every Friday. Pretty Much. And had to use ” Glass Wax” !!! No Windex ALLOWED. Jeffrey is Son of Mr. John Hogan and Wife.!!! What Memories this Store Front brings back. Hope we all can support there endeavor!!! Thanks for Reading.