About the Cookie Kindness Project
A Collective of Bakers. A Community of Givers.
The Cookie Kindness Project was born from a simple but powerful idea: that something as small as a cookie can spark big change. We’re a volunteer-led collective of pastry chefs, bakers, food writers, and culinary influencers across the Mid-Atlantic who believe in using our craft for good. With flour-dusted aprons and full hearts, we bake to support local nonprofits that uplift underserved youth and families.
What started as a grassroots bake sale has grown into a network of kindness — connecting kitchens to communities and turning sweet treats into meaningful impact.
Where Your Donations Go
Each cookie box we sell is more than just a sweet gift—it’s a way to give back.
So far, thanks to our incredible community, we've raised over $55,000 to support local nonprofits serving youth and families across the DMV since 2022.
Proceeds from past bake sales have benefited organizations doing vital, on-the-ground work, such as:
Envisions a future where homelessness is a distant memory for young people. We provide safe housing, education, supportive family services, mental health care, and workforce and life skills programs that empower young people in Washington, D.C., and Prince George’s County, MD, to overcome challenges, thrive, and build brighter futures.
Providing trauma-informed care and services for children who have experienced abuse and violence.
Empowering youth through academic enrichment, leadership development, and health and wellness programs.
One of the largest abortion funds in the U.S., supporting abortion seekers from DC and across the country. With the best abortion access in the country, connections to multiple area clinics, and a relentlessly supportive community behind us, we make abortion access happen for thousands every year.
Provides free books to individual people in prison. We also develop and support prison libraries.
Bridging the gap between community and journalism by serving the underserved and solving problems, helping libraries build diverse collections through The May Book Project, helping people chase their dreams with The Creators Microgrant Program, amplifying and supporting AA and NHPI groups and issues.
Advancing equity in the greater Washington, DC region by fostering the exchange of goods, skills, and connections from neighbor to neighbor, and by engaging in advocacy to address the root causes of poverty.
Meet the Committee
-
Rochelle Cooper
Rochelle Cooper is the executive pastry chef at the restaurants operated by the Eastern Point Collective: The Duck and the Peach, La Collina, and The Wells. She was the 2024 RAMMY Pastry Chef of the Year winner and is an advocate for affordable childcare and paid family leave.
-
Tiffany MacIsaac
Born and raised in Maui, Tiffany MacIsaac is a James Beard Foundation semifinalist Pastry Chef and multiple RAMW award winner with DC’s famed Buttercream Bakeshop. She’s been featured on the Early Show and in Food & Wine, Martha Stewart Weddings, Art Culinaire, and many other publications. She’s currently the Business Development Director at Harmony CPA and sits on the boards of RAMW, Educated Eats, and Regarding Her DC.
-
Nevin Martell
Nevin Martell is a writer-photographer based in the D.C. area who focuses on food, travel, and foraging. His work regularly appears in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, USA Today, National Geographic, and many other publications. He is the author of eight books, includingRed Truck Bakery Cookbook: Gold-Standard Recipes from America’s Favorite Rural Bakery, The Founding Farmers Cookbook: 100 Recipes for True Food & Drink, and the travelogue-memoir Freak Show Without a Tent: Swimming with Piranhas, Getting Stoned in Fiji and Other Family Vacations. On top of his writing, he is co-founder of the highly successful, long-running New Kitchens On The Block food festival, which gives diners a first taste of the D.C. region’s hottest new restaurants before they open.
-
Laura Kumin
Laura was a lawyer before she traded torts for tarts, becoming an author, teacher and cookingcoach. Her books, All Stirred Up: Suffrage Cookbooks, Food, and the Battle for Women’s Right to Vote and The Hamilton Cookbook: Cooking, Eating & Entertaining in Hamilton’s World, combine history and culture with cooking, illuminating the little-known corners of a historical period or movement. At her food blog, Mother Would Know, Laura encourages readers to become confident and creative home cooks. Her articles have appeared in USA Today, The Washington Post, the Huffington Post and the Jewish Food Experience. She has also done podcasts and programs for a variety of audiences and groups.
-
Elizabeth Kaehler
Elizabeth Kaehler is a trained pastry chef and baker who is currently baking for friends, family, and others. She was previously a pastry cook at the Eastern Point Collective, Fabio Trabocchi Restaurant group, Buzz Bakery in Alexandria, a retirement community in Seattle, and a catering company in Leeds, England. She loves baking using seasonal ingredients and supporting local farmers and small businesses. She combines her concern for the environment and love of pastry on her Instagram page - @morepastrylessplastic.
-
Jen Lin-Liu
Jen Lin-Liu is the author of the forthcoming FORMIDABLE MRS. CHAO: The Story of China’s Julia Child. She has written two culinary memoirs, SERVE THE PEOPLE: A Stir-Fried Journey through China and ON THE NOODLE ROAD: From Beijing to Rome with Love and Pasta. She is the events director and a culinary consultant for Chang Chang, a restaurant in Washington D.C. by Peter Chang.
Jen developed a lifelong passion and career in Chinese cuisine after receiving a Fulbright Fellowship to China in 2000. She has written for The New York Times, Newsweek, The Economist, and Saveur. In 2008, she founded a cooking school in Beijing called Black Sesame Kitchen.
-
Tricia Barba
Tricia Barba is a seasoned communications professional with 15 years of experience in the marketing and hospitality industries.
A native of Washington, DC (truly), Tricia has always loved telling stories and has done exactly that for her clients. Originally starting her marketing career in the political sphere, she quickly realized that her true passions lay in the hospitality and non-profit sectors.
In October 2015, Tricia founded Proxima Communications, which provides strategic communications consulting, brand marketing, media relations, and social media services to clients.
In March of 2021 she opened Preservation Biscuit Company in Falls Church where she is a jack-of-all-trades.
-
Yesenia Jarquin
Inspired by fond memories of baking with her grandfather in Oaxaca, Mexico, Yesenia Jarquin pursued a career in pastry. In 2011 She attended Le Cordon Bleu, then went on and worked in Sandestin beach and golf resort in Destin, Florida, PGA west in la Quinta, California, Cherokee Town & Country Club in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2016 she moved to Washington, D.C. where she spend the next years learning from the teams at Range by Brian Voltaggio and being part of the opening team as pastry sous chef of The Line Hotel (DC), she was the Executive Pastry chef at Centrolina & Piccolina, and currently the Pastry Chef at The Hamilton DC, part of Clyde’s restaurant group.
