Smart Cookies Provide Sweet Relief
Posted on 25. Aug, 2010 by Kate Hanley in Hill Heros
These young entrepreneurs are already learning the importance of giving back.
Perhaps you’ve seen them at the Farmer’s Market in Fort Greene Park—adorable, dark-haired moppets hawking homemade sweets. No, they’re not Brooklyn’s version of the Keebler Elves; they’re the Alexander kids, residents of Washington Park who are learning the fundamentals of running their own non-profit business as they also raise money for charity.
“We’ve been selling cookies at the market for about four years, and we’ve always donated 10% of our profits to charity,” explains Phinneas, 10, the eldest sibling and founder of the cookie-selling tradition. At the end of each selling day, the kids calculate 10% of the proceeds and keep it in an envelope until they have enough to make a sizeable donation to a cause of their choice.
The most frequent recipient of their fundraising has been Cancer Care, a national non-profit that supports cancer victims, “because our second cousin died of cancer.” But when the earthquake struck Haiti, the kids decided to send 100% of their proceeds to Doctors Without Borders, and their parents matched their contribution. “We raised close to $300 for Haiti in just one morning,” he recalls. (They’ve also donated 100% of their proceeds to Cancer Care just before a big fundraising walk-a-thon.)
Phinneas was drawn to the business because of his love of baking—all his cookies are unique derivatives of the original Tollhouse cookie recipe. As soon as his little brother Bennny was old enough, Phin recruited his sibling to assist in the kitchen. “We experiment a lot—sometimes we add smashed peppermints, sometimes Sugar Babies,” Benny reveals. The only version that didn’t fly was the one with crushed Whoppers: “They got really hard once you baked them.”
Phinneas also needed to recruit his brother for business purposes: “We need a cute person to sell the cookies, and Phinn got too old,” Benny explains. When I ask him how old he’ll be when he’s no longer cute enough for sales, he says, “Maybe when I’m 9.”
Benny’s continuing the family tradition by training an apprentice, younger sister Frida, age 4. “I do the napkins and I shout, ‘Cookies for sale,’” Frida says. Her favorite part of the cookie enterprise? “Giving out the paper towels,” she says, revealing her genius for customer service. Because, let’s face it, no matter how delicious the cookie, it will only leave a stain on your memory (and your clothes) if you’re forced to use your shirtsleeve to wipe the crumbs off your mouth.
Luckily, there’s another Alexander sibling in line for when both Benny and Frida age out of the sales role. Ava, currently 2-1/2, will get in on the cookie-selling action as soon as she shows an interest, and “as soon as we can figure out what she can do that doesn’t infringe on anyone else’s territory,” the kids’ father, Scott, says. Dancing cookie mascot, perhaps?
