By: Resse Kovacs
From the street it looks like an ordinary house with a bright red door, but what lies behind it is so much more. Pie Heaven Bakery has been serving the community in Mayport and Atlantic Beach since 2013. Here, the nostalgia of your grandma’s kitchen is not only felt but infused into every aspect down to the ingredients. From the scrumptious pies to the décor to the friendly staff, this bakery transports customers back to the comfort of childhood.
Anita Hyde, the owner, spent her life as an insurance underwriter until she could no longer ignore the call to bake pies. After what she called years of walking and bargaining, Anita finally accepted that if she wanted a pie bakery to come to Jax, she would need to do it herself…plus one. Anita decided she needed help and brought in her good friend Linda Hoffinger.
Linda was the missing puzzle piece to this mission. Anita had no kitchen experience and no intention of ever getting it either. Linda is the opposite, and she came in not only to run the kitchen but the heart of the bakery. The pies, brownies and other sweet treats that stock the shelves wouldn’t exist without Linda and her team of bakers. The bakery has satisfied Anita’s craving for desserts, but it also satisfied her need to help others.
Neither Anita nor Linda are new to the world of activism. While in her previous career, Anita became familiar with an organization called Boots on the Ground. This nonprofit organization is run by a woman that Anita says, “makes Mother Teressa look lazy”. When she discovered this organization, Anita began sending every extra dollar she had. After starting Pie Heaven, she continued sending resources to this foundation.
Linda was previously doing missionary work with a volunteer program in downtown Jacksonville. In her words, “I left the missionary work I was doing there to come do missionary work here.” Anita is a self-proclaimed radical Christian and has dedicated decades of her life to helping those across the First Coast Community and the world.
Aside from Boots on the Ground, Pie Heaven Bakery provides care to those across Jacksonville. The bakery hosts several of its own volunteer opportunities, where others can come and help the bakery hand out pies to those suffering.
The bakery also takes it upon themselves to feed those in need. If someone comes in asking to work in exchange for food, Anita will bypass the work and feed them whatever they have on hand. She also provides chicken pot pies to first responders and government officials across the city. Anita will claim she is not hospitable, but those who benefit from her generosity would beg to differ.