Greyston Bakery

Greyston Bakery has a very interesting story. It was founded in 1982 by Bernie Glassman who was a Zen Buddhist monk and teacher. The first location was Greyson Mansion in Riverdale, NY where they adapted the name. The reason for starting the bakery was to give the Zen Buddhist Community a place to work and also study. It is very interesting that he started a bakery because he had no experience at all with it, but he just wanted to do good for the community and help others. Starting this business gave him the opportunity to give people a place to work and learn. As years passed, he saw that there was a big need for developing more job opportunities. So, he created an Open Hiring policy. This gave people the opportunity to find a job and further their education.

Open Hiring

With that being said, he found that his redemptive impact would be to provide people with a place of work. They became certified B Corp in 2008 which is pretty significant. This shows that they make great efforts to benefit people in their local community. If that doesn’t prove to you the redemptive impact they are making take a look at their mission statement: “To provide employment in our bakery to a marginalized population that has experienced barriers to employment, and to further the message of inclusive employment through the work of our parent organization, the Greyson Foundation” (Our Mission, n.d.). This company is very dedicated to changing people’s lives for the better and providing them with a place of employment when no one else will take them or help them.

https://shop.greyston.org/pages/about-greyston