18: Edwin Casiao

Production, Sweet Street Desserts

Edwin Casiano works for Sweet Street Desserts and did so all throughout the pandemic. The company tried their best to operate normally, but some things needed to change. Rather than the standard three shifts, they had to consolidate into one “ghost” shift, causing Edwin to lose some hours. There were also some supply shortages to deal with, and Edwin was worried that they might interfere with the donation work that the company does. Fortunately, though, it did not. Sweet Street regularly donates their extra inventory to churches and food banks and being able to take care of the donations is Edwin’s favorite part of his job. He likes being able to meet the people taking the donations and is glad to know that the food is going to help families and communities. He’s happy to be part of such a charitably minded company.

Edwin lives with his wife, their thirteen-year-old son, and their five-year-old daughter. One of the more difficult elements of the pandemic for the family was the adjustment to online schooling. Edwin’s son was attending school virtually over Zoom for seven months, whereas his daughter only needed to do online Kindergarten for three weeks. They are very grateful that she has been able to attend school in person for the majority of the time because being so young it was very hard for her to focus on class over the iPad. His wife began working from home during the pandemic, only going into the office once a week. It was difficult for her to balance her workload while also helping the kids with their online school. Edwin is unsure if he ever contracted COVID. Early on, he experienced all of the standard symptoms but feels that it was just as likely he only had the