Board defers Gala Cakes / Mix and Mission action; requests projections, governance documents

Gayla Bell, owner of Gala Cakes, told the Loan Administration Board on Oct. 24 that she is winding down retail bakery orders while building Mix and Mission, a nonprofit vocational training project. Bell said Mix and Mission has obtained 501(c)(3) status and is pursuing partnerships with Dream Center and WorkOne to pilot training using middle- and high-school students, with a tentative ribbon cutting targeted for 2026.

Bell described the property as roughly 4,000 square feet across two addresses (316 and 320), with a residential unit of about 600 square feet. She said Gala Cakes owns the building through Gala Cake LLC and that the site has community rental space used for meetings. Bell said some revenue will come from bakers partnering through Bedford collab and from rental of event space.

Board members asked for clearer separation between the nonprofit (Mix and Mission) and the for‑profit operations (Gala Cakes LLC), and pressed Bell for projected revenue streams and governance documentation. One board member said the board does not lend to nonprofits in the same way it lends to for‑profit businesses and asked how the nonprofit would contribute to repaying the loan. Bell said she is meeting with her accountant (Dicus and Cruz) and that grant applications are in progress.

A board member moved to defer action on Gala Cakes until the February meeting and requested the following be provided before then: a rolling 12-month projection for the building's revenue, a list of Mix and Mission board members with one-line bios, and any proposed lease or rent arrangements showing how the nonprofit would pay the for‑profit owner if applicable. The motion passed by voice vote.