LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — Preparations for the 12-hour Sweet Exchange bake sale to benefit the Alzheimer's Association began Monday in Leavenworth.
Elaine and Morgan Belardo have hosted the bake sale every year since 2018, when Jose Belardo, Elaine's husband and Morgan's dad, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
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It takes days of whipping, stirring and baking — from 9 a.m. to around 5 p.m. — to meet the demand. Leavenworth residents are known for lining up out the door as early as 7 a.m., when the bake sale begins.
“The community comes and just loves them, and there’s a line out the door, it’s packed," said Stacy Shultz, constituent events manager for the Heart of America chapter of the Alzheimer's Association.
Morgan Belardo was just 15 years-old when her father was diagnosed.
“So when my daughter was 15, I wanted to empower her, that we could do something to affect change related to Alzheimer’s after her dad was diagnosed when he was 50," Elaine Belardo said. "And I said, ‘Would you like to have a bake sale?’ and she said, ‘Sure.’”
Morgan Belardo is the head chef of the bake sale. She recently graduated from Johnson & Wales University with a bachelor's in food and beverage entrepreneurship.
“(Jose) was just my biggest supporter whenever it came to my baking," Morgan Belardo said. "He always took me to get ingredients, he was always, he was my number one taste tester.”
Jose Belardo passed away in September 2022. Morgan Belardo said while her dad was dealing with Alzheimer's, he was unable to say many words.
“As he was tasting one of the things I made — it was Rye bread — and he didn’t have very many words, and he was able to say, ‘You can do anything,’” Morgan Belardo said.
Now, she says she'll take those words with her throughout her entire life, including her next chapter.
“Recently, I interviewed for a job at Disney World, and I was offered a position as a pastry chef there," she said.
But for now, she's focused on baking 5,000 goods for this year's Sweet Exchange. It has grown over the years. In 2018, the Belardos baked the goods in their home kitchen, and now they use a local church's industrial kitchen.
Last year, the bake sale raised $38,000 in donations for Alzheimer's. It's part of a larger Alzheimer's Association initiative known as The Longest Day; participants raise money through an activity of their choice.
Both Elaine and Morgan Belardo are thankful for the community's support.
“My community cares about me, they rally," Elaine Belardo said.
Jose Belardo was a public health servant and global social worker. After his diagnosis, he wanted to continue to help people, so he and Elaine Belardo established The Deeper Window Association in Leavenworth.
“We established a foundation that helps people living with dementia in the early and middle stages," Elaine Belardo said.
She said the foundation was founded to help bridge gaps that existed for Alzheimer's and dementia in Leavenworth County .
“When my husband was diagnosed, there were no services for us," Elaine Belardo said. "So, we would drive into Johnson County for every service that we needed, for everything.”
The Sweet Exchange will be held from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. this Saturday, June 15, at The Deeper Window at 729 Pennsylvania Street in Leavenworth.
To get involved locally, you can visit the Alzheimer's Association's The Longest Day webpage, or the local chapter's website here.
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