FORT HOOD, Texas -- While winter snowstorms ravaged Texas last week, Army spouse Amber Griffith knew she wanted to help people in some small way, but she never imagined the outpour of support she would receive by those she helped throughout the ordeal and others who helped her help the community here.
“In times of crisis and pain, we need to come together to help one another any way possible,” Griffith explained. “The day that the roads started to clear, I posted early in the morning that I wanted to bake bread for anybody who could pick it up, because I knew that was one thing almost every store was out of, that I could make from home.”
Griffith, the spouse of Spc. Bradlee Griffith, Battery A, 1st Battalion, 62nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 69th ADA Brigade, began posting on several Fort Hood spouse social media pages, letting people know she was baking fresh bread if anyone needed some. After going through a 10-pound bag of flour and all her yeast in one day, she went back to the pages to ask if anyone had flour or yeast.
“I was so blown away when I posted about running out of ingredients,” she said. “People were dropping off bags of flour left and right, totaling over 150 pounds of flour and over five pounds of yeast.”
Griffith received more than 275 private messages from families requesting a loaf of bread. As of Feb. 24, she had made more than 174 loaves of bread and is continuing to make more, until the stores have regular shipments.
“I made French bread because it is the easiest and quickest to make. Blooming the yeast takes five minutes, rising the dough takes 45 minutes and 15 minutes to bake,” she explained. “In just over an hour, I am able to make and bake four loaves.”
Griffith happily admitted she had a helper in the kitchen – her 18-month-old son Roman, who is curious about cooking.
“I want to encourage my son to learn to cook and try new things in the kitchen, even if that means covering the kitchen in flour,” she said.
Griffith grew up watching her grandmother cook and bake, molding her into the woman she would become and helping to inspire her as she became a food blogger. Through her YouTube channel “Amber Griffith,” she tests out recipes for people to try themselves. While she celebrates the triumphs, she also enjoys the kitchen fails, which she posts on her channel, because life is all about taking risks and trying new things. She also posts photos on Instagram, “Amber.Griff.”
“I was raised by a single mother who taught me nothing is impossible and I have used that saying every day in my life,” she said.
Griffith said she hopes, in some small way, she helped people through this difficult time, but she couldn’t have done it all without the help of her friends and neighbors at Fort Hood, who selfless donated ingredients to keep her going.
“I know I’m not changing the world,” Griffith concluded. “I’m just trying to make a difference in someone’s day.”
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