For Sea Isle's Mayor, It's Time to Make the Donuts

The new donut maker at Fractured Prune in Sea Isle City needed a lot of instruction, but was enthusiastic about learning his job Thursday.

“How are you doing?” Joanne Jenkins, the mother of Fractured Prune owner Andrew Jenkins, asked of Lenny Desiderio.

“I made three donuts already,” Desiderio replied, proudly.

“We have a dozen coming up now,” Joanne Jenkins told him.

“A dozen?” Desiderio responded, with a hint of good-natured trepidation in his voice.

For people familiar with Sea Isle City politics, the donut maker is the same Lenny Desiderio who has served as the mayor of the resort town since 1993.

All in good fun, he was invited to join Andrew Jenkins, Joanne Jenkins and the Fractured Prune employees Thursday morning for the donut shop’s fifth anniversary celebration that also doubled as a fundraiser for the VFW post in Sea Isle and the Shiloh Baptist Church in Ocean City.

    Fractured Prune owner Andrew Jenkins hands two boxes of donuts to customer Karen Orlowski.
  

All money raised from the Fractured Prune’s sales between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., when the mayor served as guest donut maker, will be equally split among VFW Post 1963, the VFW Post 1963 Auxiliary and Shiloh Baptist Church.

Andrew Jenkins said Thursday afternoon that he was still tallying up the money, but more than $1,000 was raised.

“It’s a wonderful chance to give back to the community. We would not be here without the support of the community,” Jenkins said of the fundraiser efforts.

Desiderio picked the organizations that benefited from the fundraiser. VFW Post 1963 and its auxiliary are well-known for their multitude of special events throughout the year to help military veterans.

Shiloh Baptist, a quaint, two-story church located on Seventh Street in Ocean City, was founded in 1912 and is one of the city’s oldest churches, serving many members of the Black community.

Desiderio picked Shiloh Baptist Church as one of the fundraiser’s beneficiaries in honor of Juneteenth, the federal holiday Thursday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

    Fractured Prune counter worker Cecelia Kent takes a donut order from customer Vern Mitchell.
  

Desiderio expressed his thanks to the Fractured Prune, its customers and the rest of the community for the fundraiser.

“I appreciate the overwhelming support and generosity by our community and beyond for today’s fundraiser. I’m truly humbled by the amount of people that came out to show their support,” he said.

Desiderio said it was well worth it when Fractured Prune “had me jumping around” for an hour while making the donuts.

“We even had a call come in via the phone for two dozen assorted donuts ‘only if the mayor made them,’’’ he said. “It was a lot of fun, and I would definitely do it again. Thank you to Fractured Prune. Everyone was a delight to work with.”

Wearing disposal gloves for handling food, the mayor literally had his hands in the batter and other ingredients that go into Fractured Prune’s array of specialty donuts. The menu boasts of eye-catching donuts such as “Death by Chocolate,” “Caramel Kiss” and “Blueberry Streusel.”

In addition to Sea Isle City, Fractured Prune also has shops in Ocean City at 1225 Asbury Ave. and North Wildwood at 2102 Boardwalk.

    Fractured Prune employee Lucy Padula carefully places some freshly made donuts in a box while Mayor Leonard Desiderio watches.
  

At the Sea Isle shop, customers formed a line that streamed out of the doors and onto the sidewalk during the fundraiser.

“I think it’s wonderful. I decided to come here for this event,” said Sea Isle resident Vern Mitchell, who bought four donuts and also made a $10 donation.

With the strong demand for donuts continuing through the morning, Desiderio was kept busy by Joanne Jenkins.

“All right, mayor, you have to fill the batter now,” she said matter-of-factly.

“Fill the batter? That’s what I like,” Desiderio replied.

Desiderio confided that he actually had prior experience in making donuts. In the late 1980s, he owned a shop in Sea Isle called “Dandi Donuts” with his late brother, Gerard, and Lewis Iannone.

“I was very young. After closing (for the night) at Kix, I would go over and make the donuts,” Desiderio recalled of those days at Dandi Donuts and the Kix bar and nightclub.

The legendary Kix bar in Sea Isle is still owned by Desiderio and his family, but Dandi Donuts ultimately was transformed into another business called Lew’s Deli.

All that experience in the donut business seemed to help the mayor at Fractured Prune.

“So far, so good. He’s getting the hang of it. If the mayor’s job doesn’t work out, he can always come here,” Joanne Jenkins joked.

    Joanne Jenkins and Mayor Leonard Desiderio team up to make a box of donuts.