Cookies, caring hearts and the expertise of three promotional product companies have combined to catalyze a do-gooding campaign that will warm the heart, satisfy the sweet tooth and, most importantly, benefit developmentally-challenged adults.

ePromos Promotional Products, a Saint Cloud, MN-based Top 40 (asi/188515) distributor, was the engine for the outreach, enlisting the assistance of trusted supplier partners Tekweld (asi/90807) and Midnite Snax (asi/71685) in a collaborative effort that’s helped power an autistic adult’s cookie-baking fundraising campaign, which has generated several hundred thousand dollars in support of National Autism Awareness Month (April). Ruckus Marketing, an ePromos partner and agency outside the promo space, was also essential to the effort.

Julia at work baking cookies. Image from ePromos.

Jeff Pinsky, ePromos’ executive vice president, opened up the opportunity for the altruism through his decades-long connection with – and support of -- Community Mainstreaming, a nonprofit that provides group homes, job training and employment placement for individuals with intellectual and developmental challenges. Through the organization, Pinsky and ePromos learned about Community Mainstreaming’s Julia Maidman, a 20-year-old woman living with autism who is dedicated to producing and selling 5,000-to-10,000 dozen cookies. Proceeds from sales of the sweets benefit Community Mainstreaming and Next For Autism.

Inspired by the initiative, Pinsky knew ePromos and its partners could help power Julia’s success. “We’ve always been a huge supporter of this organization – but we saw this as an opportunity to add extreme value, thanks to our expertise with packaging, fulfillment, creative and design,” Pinsky said in a company blog. “Our impact in these areas would go far beyond money and time.”

Indeed, the impact was ample.

To help Julia, ePromos designed the high-quality packaging the cookies are distributed in, as well as a website template for the campaign’s site, www.juliascookies.org, where cookies can still be ordered through at least the end of April. Additionally, ePromos signed up Tekweld, Midnite Snax and Ruckus to bolster “Julia’s Bakery,” as the baking venture was dubbed, with their expertise. ePromos also created/coordinated the workflow that would keep the campaign and its contributors on track. “Once we had the concept down,” said ePromos Director of Marketing Communications Kim Laffer-Nick, “Jeff knew that Craig Fraum from Midnight Snax, Taylor Tadmor from Tekweld and Alex Friedman from Ruckus Marketing would be passionate about supporting such a cause.”

And boy were they ever.

Tekweld donated its services and provided stunning custom cookie boxes at cost, Nick told Counselor. Ruckus took the web design and wireframes that ePromos’ Maria Tosti created and used it as a template to build the Shopify site where Julia’s cookies are retailed online – all in 48 hours. Ruckus donated its time, only charging for hard costs. Meanwhile, Midnite Snax delivered all packaging, fulfillment and shipping preparation for free, saving Julia and her dedicated team of helpers upwards of $20,000.

Midnite Snax employees at work packaging Julia’s cookies. The supplier provided packaging, fulfillment and shipping preparation for free.

“The fundamental idea was not to treat this like a fundraiser, but treat ‘Julia’s Bakery’ as if it were our most important customer,” said Pinsky. “We leveraged ePromos full-service infrastructure to deliver a true white glove experience for the buyers and donors. We wanted to deliver a better experience than similarly-priced high-perceived e-tailers and gift basket companies with a full two-thirds of the money going directly to the charities.”

All the hard work has paid off. Nick told Counselor that Julia’s Bakery has raised more than $250,000 – an incredible achievement that Julia reached with invaluable baking assistance and guidance from her mother and colleagues at Coffeed, the New York café and bakery where she works. ePromos employees and customers are among those who purchased the delectable treats, Nick noted.

For Pinsky and other promo pros that have supported Julia’s Bakery, seeing the campaign succeed is payment in full – priceless, really. “The individuals like Julia that Community Mainstreaming serves are incredible,” Pinsky told Counselor. “They’re happy, earnest, trusting, hardworking folks who are often overlooked by society because of their disabilities. Being a part of their success is addicting. Once you see their pride and confidence grow, you find it impossible to walk away.”