The Ultimate Pie Partnership
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Soon after, Oprah called the Cape Cod Times and cleared up the story herself. She confirmed that she did, in fact, try the chicken pie and loved every bite, putting an end to "pie-gate."
"I don't tell everybody at Harpo every time I buy a pie," Oprah says. "But I fell in love with these pies."
After Oprah dished about this tasty chicken pie, Centerville Pie Company's business began to boom. They went from selling 20 to 40 pies a week to selling 100 to 200 pies a week!
Laurie and Kristin knew they needed extra hands in the kitchen, and after Larry Thayer, the CEO of Cape Abilities, a nonprofit organization that provides job placement and residential services to adults with disabilities, came in for lunch, Kristin came up with an idea. "All of a sudden a light went off," she says. "And I said, 'Larry, is there any way we can work together?'"
That question sparked the perfect partnership. The ladies moved their pie production into the kitchen at Cape Abilities, and today, they employ 30 men and women with special needs. These new employees help with everything from slicing and dicing apples to packaging pies for shipping. Centerville Pie Company also donates 5 percent of its profits to this worthwhile organization.
"There's no doubt that Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder of the Special Olympics, would stand up and cheer about that," Oprah says.
Since partnering with Cape Abilities, Kristin, the daughter of a mentally ill woman, says she knows everything really does happen for a reason. "My reason is to help these individuals with disabilities," she says. "What I really hope for Centerville Pie is to duplicate this all over the world."
"I don't tell everybody at Harpo every time I buy a pie," Oprah says. "But I fell in love with these pies."
After Oprah dished about this tasty chicken pie, Centerville Pie Company's business began to boom. They went from selling 20 to 40 pies a week to selling 100 to 200 pies a week!
Laurie and Kristin knew they needed extra hands in the kitchen, and after Larry Thayer, the CEO of Cape Abilities, a nonprofit organization that provides job placement and residential services to adults with disabilities, came in for lunch, Kristin came up with an idea. "All of a sudden a light went off," she says. "And I said, 'Larry, is there any way we can work together?'"
That question sparked the perfect partnership. The ladies moved their pie production into the kitchen at Cape Abilities, and today, they employ 30 men and women with special needs. These new employees help with everything from slicing and dicing apples to packaging pies for shipping. Centerville Pie Company also donates 5 percent of its profits to this worthwhile organization.
"There's no doubt that Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder of the Special Olympics, would stand up and cheer about that," Oprah says.
Since partnering with Cape Abilities, Kristin, the daughter of a mentally ill woman, says she knows everything really does happen for a reason. "My reason is to help these individuals with disabilities," she says. "What I really hope for Centerville Pie is to duplicate this all over the world."
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