Doughnut shop delivers comfort food in trying times

LIBERTYVILLE – When Libertyville Deputy Fire Chief Michael Pakosta walked into work Monday morning, the first thing he noticed was a box of doughnuts on the kitchen table, and the great internal struggle began.

“The hardest part of my job is trying to stay away from the boxes that appear in the kitchen,” he said with a chuckle, “but that’s my weak point, too – especially with doughnuts as good as those.”

The doughnuts in question were from Libertyville’s own Lee Famous Donuts, and they were the leftovers of a surprise delivery the doughnut shop made to all three local firehouses the day before. Lee Donuts owner Heidi Hanstein personally delivered 14 dozen doughnuts, which were donated to the firehouses by a local church, as part of the doughnut shop’s “sponsor a first responder” program.

Hanstein launched the program shortly after Gov. JB Pritzker issued the state’s shelter-in-place order last month. She said the community support for the program has been “overwhelming.” Customers are able to round up their total to the nearest dollar or simply make a donation to the program. Since it began, Lee Donuts has been able to donate more than 100 dozen doughnuts to first responders and local community businesses, including grocery stores, fire and police stations and medical centers.

“It’s a really nice thing to do because it helps us. It allows us to sell more doughnuts, [and] it’s a wonderful treat when we’re able to deliver doughnuts,” Hanstein said.

Pakosta said the firehouses shared some of the doughnut delivery with the local police stations as well, “which they welcomed.”

“Throughout this entire pandemic, local establishments have been really supportive,” he said. “Whether residents purchase meals from the local establishments and have them delivered to the firehouse or establishments … just take it upon themselves to deliver to the firehouse. It’s just so welcoming, and it feels really good to know that in these times, people are thinking of you.”

On paper, a doughnut shop may not seem like an essential business, but Hanstein argued otherwise.

“It’s the most normal thing our customers can do in these very difficult times where nothing is normal,” she said. “Coming out and getting their doughnuts that their families have grown up on, their kids have grown up on, that their parents brought them to. … If we can keep our employees and community safe, of course we’re going to do it.”

Lee Donuts has been a Libertyville institution for more than 30 years, and Hanstein considers her store a “mom ‘n’ pop shop.” She and her staff “constantly consult” the original baker to ensure they stay true to the recipes and baking methods that originally helped cement the shop as a community staple.

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent shelter-in-place order have drastically impacted small businesses across the country, and Lee Donuts is no different. Hanstein said in addition to losing several recurring deliveries to other community businesses and organizations – for example, churches serving doughnuts after Sunday services or car dealerships offering doughnuts to customers in their service departments – her in-store business is down by half, but the community continues to rally around the doughnut shop.

“We’ll keep going for as along as we can,” Hanstein said. “The community’s been just fabulous.”

To accommodate social distancing guidelines – “I like to call it ‘physical distancing,’” Hanstein said. “‘Social distancing’ for me is such an emotionally draining way to think about it” – Lee Donuts has cleared out all tables and chairs from its small dining area and marked X’s on the floor with tape to allow for the recommended 6-foot spacing between individuals. Hanstein also requires her employees to wear face masks and gloves for everyone’s safety. If the shop ever gets too crowded, Hanstein has requested customers wait in their cars until the individuals before them have completed their purchases and left. She said she’s never had a customer balk at this new service protocol.

Lacking a drive-thru at the shop, Lee Donuts has launched curbside pickup, where customers can phone in an order, designate a pickup time and provide the make, model and color of their vehicle so employees know which order goes to which car.

Throughout this experience, Hanstein said the support from the community signifies just how important the small things really are.

“It’s a very scary thing we’re going through,” she said. “It doesn’t mean we’re not optimistic about an outcome, but it’s still scary. … [But] we can have something like doughnuts or mac ‘n’ cheese that are comforting in a time when we just need a little bit of comfort.”