Help keep the Cookie Cart strong!  A message from Cookie Cart Board Chair, Fran McCloskey

I am always impressed by the industrious spirit of the young people I meet at the Cookie Cart. They work hard, stay focused on their goals and love getting their paychecks. As a board member, I must ensure that the organization stays strong so many more youth can receive valuable job skills through our programs.

Planning for the future is one way that we can stay strong. We are now looking at a strategic plan to deepen the employment training experience at the Cookie Cart. This will include training in more specific skills like customer service and adding transition services to help youth employees move into new jobs in the community.

Another important way to stay strong as an organization is to utilize the amazing skills of our volunteers and staff. Our board includes leaders in food, sales, finance, marketing, strategy, law and education. Our staff has expertise in food service, human resources, social work and customer service. The board and staff are dedicated to making each youth employee's experience outstanding. We also have many friends in the community who donate time, goods, services and money to help train and prepare our youth employees for traditional jobs.

I'm pleased that we have the opportunity to prepare Cookie Cart youth to be great employees, and I'm grateful for the chance to help them achieve their goals. They give me great hope for the future of Minneapolis because they will be great role models in the workforce. I hope my own kids will work alongside Cookie Cart graduates so they can catch some of the enthusiasm and work ethic I see every time I visit the bakery on West Broadway Avenue. I hope you will help us keep the Cookie Cart strong and sustaining.

If you would like to contact Fran McCloskey with questions or comments, please send her an e-mail at board@cookiecart.org.

Where are they now? An interview with former Cookie Cart youth employee, Alexius Cook

Q: When did you work at the Cookie Cart?
A: I worked at the Cookie Cart in 1994 when I was 13 years old. I had moved to North Minneapolis from my hometown of East Chicago, Indiana. I worked as a baker.

Q: What was your favorite thing about working at the Cookie Cart?
A: My favorite thing was when everyone was working together making cookies. There would be six or seven of us working in the kitchen along with Audrey [Schimmel]. At that age, it was just great to learn to do something and make money -- most kids didn't have a chance to do that until they were 16 or 17 years old.

Q: What have you been doing since you left the Cookie Cart?
A: I graduated from high school in 2000. After that, I went to college at Purdue University Calumet, but it wasn't a good fit for me. It took me a few years to figure out what I really wanted to do. Now, I am going to school full-time at Brown Mackie College, working on my associate's degree in business management. I'll finish up my last class in August 2008. Once I complete my associate's degree, I am hoping to pursue a culinary management degree at the Illinois Institute of Art - Chicago. Eventually, I'd like to open my own restaurant.

While I'm in school, I'm also working full-time at Ameristar Casino. I work as a bellman in a hotel. I like it because I get to meet a lot of interesting people.

Q: Do you think that the experience you gained working at the Cookie Cart has helped you succeed in school and in subsequent jobs? How?
A: Yes, I do. Working at the Cookie Cart taught me how to interact with other people in a respectful way. It also got me interested in working.

Q: Would you recommend working at the Cookie Cart to other young people?
A: Definitely! I would love to open a Cookie Cart here in Indiana so youth here could have the same experience I had when I was in Minnesota. It shows kids that you can do something for yourself.

Q: What is your favorite Cookie Cart cookie?
A:  Snickerdoodle.  And chocolate chip. And M&M. I love that the cookies stay so soft and moist.

Volunteer tradesmen create new training space for Cookie Cart and PEACE Foundation

Volunteers from Holy Name of Jesus Catholic parish working

on the renovation of the Cookie Cart building.

Exciting things are happening at the Cookie Cart. A major renovation of the second floor, begun in mid-April, will result in a more functional and attractive space for the Cookie Cart and will provide work space for the PEACE Foundation staff. The PEACE Foundation is a partner nonprofit organization that rents office and meeting space in the Cookie Cart building.

Volunteer architect, Dan Gallagher of Gallagher Architects, designed the new space. He also recruited a group of skilled volunteers from his church, Holy Name of Jesus Catholic parish in Medina, Minnesota. The volunteers included Greg Wacek, Clinton Asche, Tony Peters, Pat Etzel, Jerry Sturm, Steve Ricker, Dan Spoden, Ed Gartner, Mike "Moses" Kosak, Dan Vanderheyden and Larry Olson.  These generous individuals put in many hours, framing new offices and work rooms and hanging drywall.

"These are faith-filled men who feel called to give back to the community," explains Dan Gallagher. They chose this project "because of what the Cookie Cart does for kids in North Minneapolis. There's such a huge need to teach these kids marketable skills," he says.

Other contractors and subcontractors also donated time and materials for this renovation project, and the Cookie Cart would like to recognize them for their contributions. They include Dave McCarthy and Ernie Johnson of McCarthy Construction, Ed Ladwig of Contract Hardware Co., Inc., Al Schwartz of Acoustics Associates, Elmer Wedel of Allan Mechanical, Inc., Kelli Peifer of Sunrise Painting & Wallcovering, Inc., and Steve Regnier of Hunt Electric.

The renovations are expected to be complete by the end of this month and will include new offices and a small classroom for the Cookie Cart and new offices and a work room for the PEACE Foundation. There will also be a large, bright meeting room, which will be shared by the Cookie Cart and the PEACE Foundation. The Cookie Cart will use the meeting room for youth employee training, and the PEACE Foundation will use the room for community forums – two different, yet equally important, ways of striving to improve conditions on the North Side.

We look forward to showing off our new space at our 3rd Annual Summer Festival on August 26th. We hope you'll come check it out!

Click here to see more pictures of the renovation project.

Celebrating 20 years of serving youth in North Minneapolis: Kenya McKnight's first-hand account of working at the Cookie Cart in the late 1980s

As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Cookie Cart, each month, we are looking back at the organization's history and programs and the impact it has had on the North Minneapolis community. If you have a story about the Cookie Cart that you would like to share, please contact Clea Dezio at (612) 521-0855, ext. 115, or cdezio@cookiecart.org.

I was around 11 years old when I began working at the Cookie Cart in the late 1980s. I remember clearly one day my cousin, Rachael, and I were walking on Broadway, and we saw a boy selling cookies. Rachael asked him if we could sell cookies, too. He pointed us to the Cookie Cart, which was then located on Emerson Avenue North near West Broadway Avenue.

Rachael and I walked over to the Cookie Cart and spoke with a woman named Frances [Hollenbach] who was working there. Frances welcomed us, gave us each a cookie and told us to  come back the next day to start working. Rachael and I were very excited about have an opportunity to make some money. The summer before, we had sold candy for Jessie, the community candy man. Jessie had gone out of business, so we were out of business.

Working at the Cookie Cart gave me a constructive outlet for my free time. Many of my friends at that time were into stealing and partying; some were even sexually active already. I was able to stay out of trouble by concentrating on making money to help my family. I looked forward to going to work every day. I spent some time inside the bakery making cookies, but, most of the time, I sold cookies on West Broadway Avenue.

There weren't many other employment opportunities for youth under 14 years of age in North Minneapolis at that time. I had a lot of responsibility in my family, so I was grateful to have the opportunity to help provide for my family's needs. I started working early, baking and selling cookies at the Cookie Cart, and  I have been on an upward climb ever since. Since I left the Cookie Cart, I have worked consistently, completed my G.E.D. and enrolled in college. My life has been busy and very fruitful. There have definitely been challenges, but I have surmounted the obstacles with the support of many caring people along the way, including Frances and others at the Cookie Cart. The Cookie Cart gave me a solid foundation for where I am today.

Next month:  Master Baker John Tarrant takes over at the Cookie Cart.