History

The Cookie Cart began in the early 1980s as a grassroots effort by Sister Jean Thuerauf, who opened her North Minneapolis home to neighborhood youth in an effort to help them escape gang recruitment.  Violent crime and gang involvement were growing steadily in the neighborhood, and young people were most at risk during the after-school hours.  Every day after school, Sister Jean’s home was filled with young people working on homework and baking cookies.  Word quickly spread of Sister Jean’s generosity, and, soon, her home was not large enough for the number of youth or cookies.

A red cookie cart was furnished by supporters of Sister Jean’s efforts, and young people sold their cookies on the streets of North Minneapolis.  In 1988, the Cookie Cart was registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and the cookie baking was moved to a bakery on Emerson Avenue North, near West Broadway Avenue.  Today, the Cookie Cart is located on West Broadway Avenue in the heart of North Minneapolis.  It offers employment training to youth ages 14-17 in a retail/ commercial bakery setting.  Since its inception, the Cookie Cart has served literally thousands of young people who live       in North Minneapolis.

Click here to see photographs from the early years of the Cookie Cart.

Mission 

The Cookie Cart’s mission is:  Through the operation of a retail/commercial bakery, Cookie Cart offers North Minneapolis youth the opportunity to develop life, leadership and employment skills.    Its primary objective is to teach young people practical skills that will help them acquire and keep jobs  in the mainstream workforce.  The teens served by the Cookie Cart live in or near North Minneapolis, an area designated an Empowerment Zone by the federal government because of its extremely high rates of unemployment, poverty and violent crime.  Many of the adults in the area have regular bouts of unemployment and/or hold down multiple, part-time jobs to make ends meet.  Young people growing  up on the North Side have few working adult role models and frequently have to compete with adults for entry-level jobs.

Through its programs, the Cookie Cart prepares teens to find and keep living-wage jobs so they can break the cycle of poverty in which they currently live.  In the Bakery Program, young people learn basic employment skills in a real business setting that will help them acquire and be successful in adult employment.  In the 360 Degree Program, the Cookie Cart presents youth with a broad range of career choices, helping them identify areas of interest and aptitude.  They are introduced to area professionals and educators who can help them create a realistic plan for reaching their career goals.  Through this process, teens see the link between education and careers, and they realize that their performance in high school will affect their future job choices.  By broadening their horizons and helping them grasp the importance of education and having a realistic and achievable plan for the future, the Cookie Cart empowers young people to become productive members of the community.