Local businesses raise over $4,000 for Loaves and Fishes

Kelci McKendrick, Enid News & Eagle, Okla.
·2 min read

Feb. 26—ENID, Okla. — For the second year in a row, Josi Hager used her local business to help give back to the community.

The owner of The Turquoise Boutique sold T-shirts at her shop for about a month to donate to Loaves & Fishes in Enid, raising about $4,250 in total with the help of three other local businesses that pitched in.

"I just try to do something yearly to give back to our community, and we knew that there was a need for this," Hager said. "I just felt like since I own a store, I could reach out to lots of women and be able to sell T-shirts and give the proceeds to them, and everyone would be able to wear these around town."

Lydia Kelley, executive director of Loaves & Fishes, was "amazed" by the support from the four businesses. When Kelley first heard that Hager was hosting the fundraiser, she was excited that local business owners wanted to support Loaves & Fishes and support their "hungry neighbors."

"It makes me really happy, and I love knowing that the people in our community are supporting each other and supporting the agency, and then also making sure that people have enough to eat," Kelley said.

Last year, it was just Hager's downtown shop doing the fundraiser, which was for 4RKids, but this year, Universal Management, Harmon's Electric and Andrew Real Estate helped out, as well, to support the community that supports them.

"After we heard about Josi and what she was doing to give back to the community and to Loaves & Fishes, we decided to go ahead and match those funds, and so that's kind of where we came into play," said Jessica Andrew, owner of Andrew Real Estate.

Hager sold a total of 76 T-shirts, which had the words "we are all in this together" and "shop local + give local" printed on them from the end of January through Tuesday. She still has a few left at The Turquoise Boutique, 101 N. Grand.

She plans on doing this again next year and hopes even more businesses will get involved with the fundraiser.

"No one can survive without a loving community, and I think Enid is a wonderful one," Hager said.

Kelci McKendrick is police and court reporter for the Enid News & Eagle.

Have a question about this story? Do you see something we missed? Do you have a story idea for Kelci? Send an email to kelcim@enidnews.com.