Love CHARACTERS “This idea had the potential to be bigger than one place or one person.” -Renee Heitmann Renee Heitmann doesn’t make much money at all. As a professional singer, church gigs and vocal coaching don’t exactly provide an income that will set her for a carefree future. But that doesn’t keep her from baking cookies for strangers. Just because she likes to see people smile. And these aren’t just any cookies. They are made from her mom’s secret chocolate chip recipe. Heitmann shares her cookies with total strangers, and it is something she has been doing for just over one whole year. It all started last January, when Renee decided to bake a plate of cookies for Sorriso Italian Deli on 30th Avenue in Astoria, where she is a regular customer. The response led to a eureka moment for Heitmann. She was thanked for the delicious cookies, but even more so for thinking of the staff at the deli, who rarely receives tangible forms of gratitude, if at all. “This idea had the potential to be bigger than one place or one person,” Heitmann explained during her Tedx talk in Utica last October. And so she realized there would have to be some parameters for it to really soar. The cookie drops would have to be consistent, even weekly. They would need to be delivered on actual plates. And the business from where the empty plate was recovered would be responsible for determining the next recipient. And so that is precisely what Heitmann began doing. Each week, she brings a plate of her homemade cookies to a different business in Astoria, whether it’s sunny, snowing, or sleeting. Heitmann’s journies have taken her to police precincts, firehouses, delis, and every kind of place imaginable. She always returns a few days later to get her plate. The actual ceramic plate lets the recipients know they are not disposable. It also lets them know the cookies are safe to eat. Across the board, this random act of kindness wins people over. And Heitmann pays for the ingredients out of her pocket. You can donate on her website, of course. “But I mostly only get donations from my mom,” laughs the benevolent baker. She estimates that she probably spent about $2,000 this past year just making chocolate chip cookies. Heitmann hopes that people who learn about her will stop and ask, ‘What can I do for my neighbor, and how can I give back to my community? How can we each use our own unique talents to help others?’ She quotes Gandhi, saying she is just trying to be the change she wants to see in the world. Visit her website at: singlegirlcookies.com 26 | BOROMAG.COM | FEBRUARY 2014 THY NEIGHBOR
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