Prior to and since founding The Brooklyn Banana Bread Company last year, Sean Reynolds has baked and delivered thousands of loaves of banana bread, using his own money and mother’s secret recipe, as a way to thank those putting their lives on the line to help others in New York City.
Reynolds has a history of community involvement in the city and especially his native Brooklyn. Prior to the pandemic, Reynolds helped raise $20,000 to feed 500 homeless families living in Brooklyn shelters. Since the pandemic began, he has made loaves of his banana bread and has given them out to firehouses, police stations, nursing homes and hospitals to show his appreciation.
“I’ve been donating the banana bread – it’s my mother’s recipe. I’ve been donated it to frontline workers and first responders throughout New York City, and beyond, doing every hospital in Brooklyn, Staten Island and Queens,” Reynolds tells ABC7 New York. “I have one hospital left in Brooklyn, the Bronx and seven left in Manhattan.”
Dole Food Company, the largest producer of fruit and vegetables in the world, recently discovered Reynolds’ efforts and is donating enough DOLE bananas to expand Sean’s gratitude deliveries through April. On Tuesday, March 16, Reynolds delivered the banana bread to the Emergency Department at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. On Monday, March 22, he will deliver to the Radiology Department on Grand Concourse Campus at the BronxCare Health System and the Progressive Care Unit at New York Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital.
In the coming weeks, he will continue to show his love and appreciation to frontline workers, with help from Dole Food Company.