Save the pumpkin bread

The nuns at Monastery of the Angels in Hollywood are famous for their loaves of pumpkin bread, but it seems they also know how to play the game in Los Angeles. With investments and donations tanking and sales in the gift shop down, the nuns have posted notices alerting neighbors that the convent might have to be broken up for "a condominium or a mall or worse." Bingo. Riled-up neighbors are helping to raise money. Bob Pool in the L.A. Times:

There is no proposal currently on the table to raze the monastery -- but the nun's alarming warning is prompting some neighbors to action.

"They are humble, devoted women whose peaceful little organization is threatened. It's a sad situation," said Kathy McGarrity, a West Los Angeles resident who has visited the monastery for 20 years.

Hollywood Hills resident Norma Foster has formed a five-member committee of financial and religious fundraising experts to create a rescue plan for the nuns who she considers to be good neighbors and an important part of the Hollywood fabric.

The nuns bake about 18,000 loaves of pumpkin bread annually, many of which get handed out by Councilman Tom LaBonge: "I believe in the separation of church and state, but not church and community."