We opened our first location of Bountiful Bakery and Cafe in Westlake on May 24, 2006 and our mission was to make delicious cakes, pies and cookies and down home comfort food like our Mom and Grandma used to make. It was a simple idea born from experience and the desire to be useful after my daughter Libbie passed away from Leukemia. But, my original idea quickly changed into something larger and more important. My need to make a difference in the lives of children fighting cancer and their families melded beautifully with my need to move on after our own tragic loss. My skills matched my vision and the perfect seed was planted in The Loving Libbie Memorial Foundation…whose funding became the primary objective of Bountiful Bakery and Cafe.
Since 2006 The Loving Libbie Memorial Foundation has supplied thousands of dollars’ worth of food, cakes and comfort to children and their families in treatment at the Children’s Blood and Cancer Clinic, Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas and Austin’s Ronald McDonald House. My ability to accomplish this goal is a daily combination of love and therapy for me that I cannot fully explain except to say this…the root of my success is The Loving Libbie Memorial Foundation and what I can accomplish for other people that are walking through the same thing that my family and I did.
When we were lucky enough to be given the opportunity to expand our vision with a second location of Bountiful Bakery and Cafe in The Shops at the Galleria in Bee Cave we jumped at the chance to spread our own special blend of comfort food as well as to educate individuals about The Loving Libbie Memorial Foundation and what it does. We sincerely believed that our ability to help children would increase with a second location so, on August 25th of 2009 we did it! We were immediately blown away by the warm reception that we received from the Bee Cave, Lakeway, Spicewood, Oak Hill and Steiner Ranch communities. Our expansion from the beginning has been an investment of time, energy and love; and the past two years have been a growth experience for me as well as both Bountiful Bakeries.
It seems to me that everywhere you look these days there is evidence that change is inevitable. From the country to the economy to our own personal lives we are all in a constant state of change. As individuals we must adapt and work through these changes the best we can to meet the needs of ourselves and our families. And after walking through my own personal changes the past two years I have come to the decision that I must return again to the simplicity of my original vision for Bountiful...for the good of myself and my family. I have learned that with God’s help there is nothing that I cannot handle professionally and personally, that my business ideas are sound and my vision for The Loving Libbie Memorial Foundation has only begun to fully blossom. It has truly been a learning experience that I would not trade for anything.
We all know that there are times when the overgrowth of a tree must be trimmed to save the integrity of the roots and this is one of those times. The Loving Libbie Memorial Foundation with the support of the original Westlake location of Bountiful Bakery and Cafe has grown into an incredible source of comfort in the day-to-day lives of ill children and it will continue to be the primary focus of my heart's energy. Therefore we will be closing the second location of Bountiful Bakery and Cafe in The Shops at the Galleria in Bee Caves effective Monday December 26, 2011. We are extremely grateful to all the new friends and loyal customers that we have made the last couple of years and we sincerely hope that you will continue to patronize our Westlake location. We will still be available for catering, custom sweets orders and of course our own special brand of comfort food...we would love to see you! We truly want to keep you all as friends.
We want for you to realize that this is not a bad thing at all for us personally. We are so happy that we took advantage of our growth opportunity and that we were able to learn the lessons which came along with that change, because they ultimately led us to the realization that in our case smaller is better. Our focus must be The Loving Libbie Memorial Foundation and what we can accomplish for children living with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. So don’t be sad, we are energized with this change and what the future holds for the growth of the Foundation. Thank you so much for your support, we love you all and wish you Bountiful Blessings!
Yours very truly,
Becky Nichols