Nipissing alumna inspires local gift-giving

Nipissing University School of Business graduate, Taylor Hummel (BBA ’19), is part of a small team that developed a successful initiative to encourage members of the North Bay community to shop locally this holiday season. Alongside her former high school classmates, Nico Waltenbury and Sierra Mercer, Hummel forged partnerships with 10 local businesses to create The Bay Bundle.

The Bay Bundle included an assortment of 10 specialty food items from businesses in North Bay and surrounding area. Purchasing the bundle not only supports locally-owned businesses, but also the North Bay Santa Fund.  

“The idea for The Bay Bundle stemmed from similar initiatives we were seeing take place in other cities across the country this past year. We decided to try out our own version of the initiative in our hometown; the place we met, and the place we’ve all been missing since moving to different cities for work,” said Hummel. “The overall purpose was to support local, small businesses who are struggling during COVID-19 and encourage the North Bay community to support them during this time.”

The initial round of sales sold out in less than 24 hours, raising thousands of dollars for local vendors and the Santa Fund. The success of this project prompted a second and final product release that sold out in less than 30 minutes.

“We knew The Bay Bundle would be well-received but had no idea how much support we would get within the first day,” Hummel said about the overwhelming outcome. “We hope to roll out other editions of the Bundle in the future, and get more local businesses involved.”

To learn more about The Bay Bundle, visit www.thebaybundle.com.