Beyoncé Awards Black Virginia Baker $10K From BeyGood
Kimberly Outlaw, owner of Sweet Craving Bakery in Chesapeake, Virginia, received surprising news from Beyoncé while checking her business email this month.
Outlaw, known for creating divine and extravagant sweet treats from her home bakery, was awarded $10,000 by the mogul’s BeyGOOD Grant. The relief, designated to help Black-owned businesses struggling amid the pandemic, will help Outlaw and more than 250 other entrepreneurs.
“I was checking my business email, and it said, ‘You are a recipient,’” Outlaw tells The Virginian Pilot. “I had to read it four times, and I didn’t comprehend what I was reading. I screamed — I’m still in the same disbelief.”
The Sweet Cravings baker took to her Instagram on Jan. 13 to announce the news to her fans and followers, sharing that 2020 was a year of devastation after she lost her grandmother. And that the news of the BeyGOOD grant would be her motivation to make her loved one proud.
“Praise God From Whom all Blessings flow!!!!!🙌🏽 We received Beyoncé's BeyGOOD Grant ya'll!!!!!! I am still in utter disbelief😭 ...2020 tore my heart out my chest when my Grandmommy ascended to heaven. Lord I am still in so much pain. Then God blesses my heart with this! Grandma look!!!!,” she wrote. “She would have been my 1st call.💔 Kisses to heaven. Your baby is gonna make you so proud. Please keep us in prayer .”
Outlaw tells The Virginian Pilot she is contemplating using the grant to expand her business, which she runs from home.
“I’m waiting to hear from God. We’re thinking of maybe opening a small storefront, maybe having a food truck to introduce Sweet Cravings on wheels. But until I know, I’ll stay put,” she says.
Adding, “I’m in the honeymoon phase, it’s so exciting and new. Once I properly digest it, we’ll come up with an amazing expansion plan.”
