MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) – People from all areas of the state have been taking to social media to share their appreciation for those who are essential employees, such as grocery store workers, gas station employees and especially those in the medical field.
Denise Neal is one of those workers risking her health during the pandemic by walking into J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital for her shift as a nurse, so that she can help save others. However, she wanted to take that one step further by putting her love for baking and cake decorating to the test.
Neal posted on Facebook that she wanted to donate a cake to someone who, “needed a pick me up.” She urged her friends and family to nominate people who they thought would be a good fit.
“I posted a Facebook post just kinda reaching out and saying, ‘hey,’ you know.. ‘I wanna do a cake giveaway, if you know anybody that needs an encouragement or could use a blessing during this time.. nominate them and I’d love to give them a free cake.’ I didn’t expect a very big response but I definitely got one and I’m glad that I was able to reach out to people and kinda be an encouragement,” Neal explained.
After receiving countless donations, Neal announced that she would be delivering the first cake to respiratory therapists at United Hospital Center in Bridgeport. She explained that as someone who is working in a hospital during this time, She knows first-hand the feeling that goes with going into work during all of this uncertainty. She described it as, “hard, scary and stressful.”
“It’s very quiet right now and people are calling it the calm before the storm,” Neal said. “So I think every time you go into work, there’s kind of a pit in the bottom of your stomach, because you are so uncertain.”
After the first giveaway was so well recieved, she went on to give away two more. One to an environmental service worker at Ruby Memorial and another to a Dietitian for the VA Hospital. Neal said that she even had help along the way, from people who reached out to her and wanted to get involved by buying supplies.
Cake given to Dietitian 
Cake given to Environmental Service worker
“I really hope people have been able to see that there are people out there who care about them, that are thinking about them and praying for them.”
Denise Neal
Neal explained that she would like to continue these giveaways and bringing joy to others, as long as she is able to. She said that she wants to continue giving as many blessings as she can.
“As long as God continues to provide. Which I believe he will, hopefully I can be a blessing to a lot more people.”