BARBERTON, Ohio — Leach’s Meats & Sweets is a Barberton staple. For more than 50 years, the family-run business has not only sold food and tasty treats, but they have also helped those in need.
These efforts have included a scholarship in honor of Leach’s Meats & Sweets founder Ray Leach Sr. In recent years, they have also organized a fundraiser for Ukrainian refugees in Poland and raised $18,000 for hurricane victims.
Tina Dietry, the youngest of the three Leach siblings who run the shop, credits their customers with helping them serve others.
“If we do anything, they come out,” said Dietry. “That means a great deal to this town because we try to help the things in town and we try to help outside of town also.”
It’s a full-circle mission for the Leach family, as they’ve been helped by the community, as well.
“We had a fire. It’s almost been 10 years ago around Christmas. All of our Christmas orders were gone. Couldn’t do anything for anyone,” Dietry explained. “Other bakeries stepped up and said, ‘Hey, we’ll bake your stuff, we’ll do this.’ They did.”
Helping others is what Dietry said Barberton is all about.
“This is a town that has suffered a lot. A lot of businesses are gone. A lot of things have happened,” said Dietry. “You have to help each other. You have to. If you don’t do it, who will?”
That circle of giving allows this family business to not only feed a community, but nourish its business.
“We have been blessed with my parents starting this and then passing it down to us,” Dietry said. “Hopefully at the end of the day, we just make them proud.”
This post was originally published on here
