Cookies that Count
FOOD + DRINK @BILLPARRY3
LIC’s Coffeed teams with autistic baker for a special
cookie sale benefiting autism programs
APRIL 2019 I BOROMAG.COM 41
Photo courtesy of Next for Autism
Coffeed, the Long Island
City-based philanthropic
artisanal coffee company,
is teaming up with Julia
Maidman, a 20-yearold
with autism and
a passion for baking,
to produce and sell
thousands of cookies to
bring hope to families
and people of all ages
who are living with
Tautism. he team at Coffeed along with
Julia’s Kitchen, which Maidman
runs, will bake chocolate
chip and oatmeal cookies. The
sweet treats are on sale now
through the end of April, which
is Autism Awareness Month,
online at JuliasCookies.org and at Coffeed
locations across the city.
“Julia, our master baker, is delighted to
share her delicious cookies, the result of
great devotion, hard work and the desire to
‘bake’ us happy,” Maidman’s mother Arlene
said. “This has been her passion since she
took her first cooking class three years ago.”
Proceeds from the cookie sales will benefit
Next for Autism and Coffeed’s longtime
community partner, Community Mainstreaming.
Next for Autism is a nonprofit
that creates and supports innovative programs
for individuals with autism and their
families nationally, while Community Mainstreaming
is a Long Island-based nonprofit
that helps people with intellectual and developmental
disabilities lead meaningful,
productive lives within their communities
through individualized and person centered
supports for home and work.
“Julia has shown that it’s possible for
young adults with autism to learn skills that
could lead to purposeful work,” Next for
Autism President Ilene Lainer said. “Young
adults with autism face significant hurdles
to employment. They lack training and the
proper supports to help them thrive. That’s
the reason Next for Autism is intently focused
on creating programs that empower
young adults with choices and opportunities
to fulfill their potential and become
participating members of our community.”
Frank “Turtle” Raffaele and a group of
friends started Coffeed in 2012 as a forprofit
business with a charitable component,
with 5 to 10 percent of its gross
revenue going to charities such as the
Refugee and Immigrant Fund based in
Astoria, the New York Foundling and City
Growers. In addition to supporting charitable
organizations, Coffeed staffs its locations
with the people they serve.
“We are committed to hiring people in
the community with disabilities,” Raffaele
said.
Each Sunday for the past six months,
Coffeed co-founder Abe King picks up
Maidman and other young cooks from
their home and brings them to the company’s
industrial kitchen in Long Island
City, where they produce the cookies.
“Owners and managers need to realize
they are in a meaningful position that
can make a difference in the lives of this
group and at the same time bring tremendous
benefits to themselves and
their business,” King said. “People with
disabilities have tremendous untapped
abilities. We all have, or will have, disabilities
at some point in our lives and the
humanity we show others is what counts.”
By BILL PARRY
/BOROMAG.COM
/JuliasCookies.org
