Centre County Cookies for Caregivers Shows Appreciation for Local Essential Workers

The Cookies for Caregivers initiative began last year in Huntingdon, when two community members decided to show appreciation for local essential employees through baking and delivering homemade cookies to their places of work. Since then, the initiative has received national attention and local Cookies for Caregivers groups have popped up all over the country. 

The Centre County Cookies for Caregivers chapter, however, didn’t form until January of this year, when a friend of one of the original founders decided to take the leap and organize the local chapter herself. 

“For a few weeks, I was muddling it over in my head. ‘Can I do this here in Centre County? Can I take this on? I really want to. I’m not sure how they’re actually doing this,’” Caley Glasgow explains. “I reached out to [Cookies for Caregivers co-founder Scott McKenzie] one week and said, ‘What you’re doing is amazing; can I really do this?’ He went along with me and led the charge on our very first delivery at Mount Nittany Hospital. I tagged along to see how it worked and asked a lot of questions. He reassured me that I could do it and that’s how [Cookies for Caregivers] was born here in Centre County.”

Since that initial delivery in mid-January, the Centre County chapter has grown to 175 members in its Facebook group; around 40 bakers who contribute, many on a regular basis; and 312 dozen homemade cookies delivered. Beyond delivering cookies to Mount Nittany Medical Center on multiple occasions, the group has also delivered cookies to local nursing homes, the state police barracks at Rockview, county post offices and more. 

“We’ve tried to hit a lot of different types of essential workers that have been impacted,” Glasgow says.

The process is relatively simple for any home baker who wants to participate. 

“The easiest thing to do is join our Facebook group and that will link [participants] to a form where they can indicate how much they want to participate,” Glasgow says. “To be a baker, it’s pretty simple. You will get an email from whoever is coordinating your delivery that week, ahead of time. They will let you know where you need to drop your cookies off. All they do is bake and drop their cookies off. We take it from there in terms of final packaging and labeling and getting it to the place. It’s really rather simple for the baker. Sign up, bake, drop your cookies off.” 

There are no particular limitations on what types of cookies home bakers can donate, though occasionally, Glasgow says, recipient organizations will request special accommodations, such as gluten-free, dairy-free or nut-free cookies. In those cases, she reaches out to bakers who are able to accommodate such requests. 

“That’s been nice, that we can offer that to our delivery locations, so that everyone can feel a part of it and no one’s excluded,” she says. 

Stephanie Flanagan and her daughter have participated in Cookies for Caregivers on several occasions, both baking and delivering the cookies to recipients. 

“My 15-year-old daughter Maeve has really become quite a baker over the last year and so I thought this would be a fun thing for us to do together,” Flanagan says. ”Her grandmother lives at Juniper Village in State College and we are deeply grateful for all of the caregivers there who have kept her safe and always show up with a smile, no matter what. There are thousands of essential workers in Centre County who have made tremendous sacrifices for the rest of us and this is one small way we can say thank you and that we appreciate you.”

Even though the pandemic looks quite different a year later than it did originally in March 2020, Glasgow notes that she doesn’t see any end in sight for Cookies for Caregivers.

“Stealing a line from Scott McKenzie, there’s no expiration on kindness,” she says. “They’ve been at this for over a year… They don’t see an end in sight in Huntingdon, so I’m not really anticipating an end here. There are over 100 different chapters doing this across the nation in their communities and I haven’t heard any chatter about [wrapping this up]. I think this something that will  probably last for quite some time.”

To participate in Cookies for Caregivers as a home baker or simply suggest a recipient organization or business, follow the Centre County Cookies for Caregivers Facebook group at www.facebook.com/groups/cfccentre. 

Flanagan encourages other community members to participate in the program. 

“It’s been wonderful being part of something so positive and a way to give from our hearts,” she says. “It’s magical… I definitely encourage people of all ages to get involved in this amazing outreach of gratitude and deliciousness. There are still so many people to thank for everything they’ve done and continue to do. This is one small but meaningful way to let every single caregiver and essential worker in our county know how much they are loved and appreciated.”

“[Cookies for Caregivers has] been a nice way for a lot of people in the community to feel like they’re helping in some way,” Glasgow adds. “During the whole pandemic, no one’s really felt like they can actually make an impact and help the essential workers out there, working for our community. Baking some cookies is an easy way for a lot of people to reach out and say thank you.”