By Emily Kim

HOUSTON - Barack Obama fanatic and owner of Cravings’ Gourmet Desserts SherRyl DeWalt has found a way to turn her small business into a sweet campaign support. Working out of her house she makes a special peach cobbler she calls ‘Obamalicious’ and pecan and sweet potato pie, their top crusts carved with slogans such as: Obama 08’ and Yes We Can.

DeWalt, 52, learned to bake “at the apron of her grandmother Mattie,” and has been producing pastries since the age of 12.

“I’m working out of my house right now,” she said, “But my goal is to open a dessert bar where you can go in and create your own desserts, kind of like a Baskin & Robbins.”

DeWalt began baking her Obama treats on the 15th of February. She brings them by the campaign office on Travis Street where her picture, along with the pies’ hangs next to her business card on a wall.

“I bring them in, in nice baskets with the Obama campaign stickers on them,” she said.

She sells the desserts and gives part of the proceeds to the Obama campaign office.

When Obama gave a speech at the Toyota Center in Houston she made a special basket of Obama encrusted treats. Determined to get them to the senator she found a volunteer chair who said she might be able to make it happen.

“I hope he got them. I haven’t heard anything yet, but I left my business card in the basket and I know he will call when he gets it,” DeWalt said.

DeWalt sells locally and is happy to be helping local campaign efforts. Pies, cakes, cobbler and banana pudding can be ordered by calling her at 713-689-8992. She also maintains a blog on myobama.com under the title ‘cravings for Obama.’

Her support for Obama has been growing since he became an Illinois senator.

“He is a man of great integrity,” DeWalt said, “he can identify what the people need and we’re excited about what he can bring to the table. He was born for this occasion.”

DeWalt is an example of the grassroots effort that is driving Obama’s campaign. She and other community members have found unique ways to show their support.

“He was the dream that Martin Luther King Jr. saw. He saw Obama,” DeWalt said.