With This Family, Every Day Is a Happy Cookie Day
home-schooling project turns into a sweet small business
When schools went virtual during the COVID-19 pandemic, many students struggled with the change, especially students in special education classrooms.
Stephanie, a Chippewa Falls mom, decided to homeschool her son Bradley, who has autism, amidst the pandemic and wanted to find ways to continue to teach him useful life skills. One day, the two of them decided to bake some chocolate chip cookies. Not only was this a great way to teach Bradley math, but Stephanie discovered how much he loved to bake.
“He asked to make cookies again, but your family can only eat so many cookies,” Stephanie laughed. “That’s when I was like, you know what? Let’s give them to neighbors and friends of Bradley.”
Bradley and Stephanie (who wanted the family’s last name withheld for privacy reasons) started to make cookies and bring them to nonprofit organizations in the area as well as to friends and families, who would often give Bradley a tip for his hard work. They would deliver the cookies by announcing, “Happy cookie day!” The name stuck.
They would deliver the cookies by announcing, “Happy cookie day!” The name stuck.
In November 2021, Stephanie decided to set up a Happy Cookie Day Facebook page for Bradley to sell his creations. From cookies to cakes to cupcakes to cinnamon rolls, Bradley whips up many sweets for the community.
Their Facebook group now has over 450 members and has turned into a great way for Bradley to enhance his people skills.
“With Bradley’s autism, he doesn’t like going up to strangers,” Stephanie said. “But he absolutely loves to watch all the people coming and that they love his baked goods.”
All of the profits from Happy Cookie Day will go into a fund to help Bradley in the future. They try to keep prices low so that everyone may enjoy all that Bradley has to offer. They also take donations of baking ingredients so they can continue to bring goodies to nonprofits in the area such as the Barnabas Table in Chippewa Falls, the Helping Hands, and any others in need of a happy cookie day.
“This is our way of teaching Bradley life skills,” Stephanie said. “Baking and cooking is a very good thing for him to learn.”
You can find a link to the Happy Cookie Day Facebook group at tinyurl.com/HappyCookieDay.
