UpRising Bakery and Cafe in Lake in the Hills has put out a call for support after a tumultuous year has has affected their income.
The bakery has been a focus of anti-LGBTQ groups since planning a family-friendly drag brunch last year. That resulted in the bakery having its windows shattered and front spray painted with anti-LGBTQ graffiti. The business was able to reschedule the event after community support, but then was confronted with the village of Lake in the Hills saying the bakery could no longer hold events, citing the costs of increase police presence needed for public safety. An agreement was reached that would allow events to continue, but only after the threat of a lawsuit from Lambda Legal.
The bakery cancelled events in December 2022 after the Department of Homeland Security issued an domestic terrorism alert for LGBTQ events and businesses.
Through all of this, the bakery has been the focus of protests by anti-LGBTQ activists almost continuously. All of this has taken a toll on the business’s profits.
In an update to customers, the owner Corrina Bendel Sac discussed what standing up has cost the bakery.
“UpRising has been politicized, demonized, and ostracized from the local community we depended on for success,” she wrote. “We are no longer known as the award winning bakery in Lake in the Hills, who donates almost all their profits year after year. We are now ‘The gay bakery.’ The misinformed community directly around us will no longer come here, and actively try to stop people from coming here. As a result of the prolonged attacks here; we lost our two long-running farmers market spots, three of our wholesale accounts, essential partnerships with networking groups and companies, and the Village officials who contracted us for bakery and catering will no longer work with us. We have literally lost everything that I built as a financial safety net.”
Bendel Sac isn’t planning to quit. But she does need the community to help out. In the short-term, she’s asked for the community to:
- Plan a visit to UpRising before April 2023
- Plan a meeting at UpRising before April 2023
- Plan an event at UpRisingbefore April 2023
- Sponsor an events before April 2023
Longer term, Uprising needs:
- New wholesale accounts (other restaurants, grocery stores, etc)
- Helping publish a cookbook of recipes
- Donating an espresso machine or a panini machine
- Spreading the word about events and other live music
- Dedicating $30+/month to UpRising visits
- Presenting ideas to the business
UpRising Bakery and Cafe is at 2104 Algonquin Road in Lake in the Hills. They do accept online orders and are open seven days a week.