After fire lieutenant and Board of Selectman member Shaun Manning was killed by a driver in Portland a week before Christmas, a local baker has started a fundraiser to raise money for the volunteer fire department.
Brittany Davis, who runs the cottage bakery Britt’s Baking Co. out of her home in Portland, created the fundraiser after brainstorming ways to help in the wake of tragedy.
“When everything happened, me and my husband started talking and I was like, 'OK, what can I do? There’s got to be something I could do to help,'” Davis said. “I started my cottage food business and knew that one of my things was always wanting to give back. I don’t really do this to make a profit or make this my full-time job.”
She volunteered alongside Manning at the food bank in town. He was crossing Main Street when he was hit by a driver on Dec. 18
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Manning was on his way to a town meeting where he was set to be appointed as town selectman, filling the remainder of Ryan Curley’s term.
“I know how much he’d do for us, so, to hear that we had lost someone that was such a strong part of our community and probably someone you’d consider a pillar of our community, who keeps us going and is always looking out for us, it was so sad,” Davis said.
She got to work with her mixer, sugar and flour. She even made a cookie cutout with her 3D printer.
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Davis created a cookie with the Portland Fire Department patch on it, and is selling four cookies for $8. All proceeds will go to the department in Manning’s honor.
“I think within 15 minutes I had my first order, and I think within 24 hours, we were over 250 and we’ve grown since then,” she said. “It will probably be an everyday thing throughout the next two weeks until orders close.”
As the orders pour in, so do people’s gratitude and praise. But Davis said that’s not what it’s about for her.
“I’ve been getting a lot of thank yous, and you’re so generous, and that’s wonderful…and I appreciate that, but the biggest message I’d like to pass on to everybody is that Shaun did way more than this. This is like a tiny drop in the bucket compared to what he’s done for years, and I really appreciate the thank yous, but this is really all about him," Davis said.
She is accepting orders until Jan. 12. You can order here.
