Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://specialtyfoodmagazine.epubxp.com/i/328566
T he founders of Dancing Deer Baking Company knew their scratch-baked goods would make an impact on the specialty food scene in 1994. And they did. What they didn't know at the time was that these products would become integral in helping homeless families in Boston through One Family, a local nonprofit organization. Since its inception in 2001, Dancing Deer's Sweet Home Project has contributed more than $250,000 by taking its most popular gift items and donating 35 percent of the retail revenue. Dancing Deer has opened the door for its customers and employees to help families in need—all while enjoying delicious baked goods. The Concept… When Trish Karter, Suzanne Lombardi, and Ayla Antoniou, the trio that founded Dancing Deer in the Boston area in the 1990s, were searching for a focal point for their phil- anthropic efforts, they knew they wanted to keep it local. Karter became aware of One Family's efforts in reducing homelessness, so she began a dialogue with other One Family sponsors and formed a relationship with the organization in 2001. "Through our unique partnership, we've helped hundreds of low-income and formerly homeless parents achieve economic independence through higher education," says Valerie Paric, One Family's executive director. The organization does this by providing funding and support so that single parents can complete their col- lege education and enter family-sustaining careers. "It helps parents break the cycle of poverty and thereby prevent future homelessness for their families," says Laura Stanton, direc- tor of marketing at Dancing Deer. "One Family has been a perfect match since the program began. They're local and employees can easily get involved." How It Works… The Sweet Home Project allows consumers to give a gift and give back, as opposed to just making a donation to a par- ticular charity in someone's name. "We've taken Dancing Deer's gifts that we sell every day and made them into Sweet Home gifts with the inclusion of a cookie storybook," Stanton explains. "What makes each gift special is that we include in it a rich dark chocolate cookie in the shape of house with a window and a chimney, packaged in a box that looks like a book and tells the story of Sweet Home." Dancing Deer offers two gifts for the cause: the Celebration Gift Box for $29.99, which contains four chocolate chunk brownies, eight chocolate chip cookies, 12 Tangerine Swirl shortbread cookies, and two hand-decorated butterf ly sugar cookies, and the Brownie & Cookies Gift Basket for $42.99, which features four lemon squares and four chocolate chunk brownies along with eight each of Super Cane Lime and triple-chocolate chip cookies. Packaging for the gifts range from a box designed to look like a house to a wooden keepsake. Not surprisingly, the holidays are the baker's biggest selling period. "We have teachers who buy by the case at Christmas to give to each student so they can talk about how it's not just about what you receive but about giving back too," Stanton notes. Corporate business is big as well, "to say thank you to clients or customers," she adds. For variety, Dancing Deer changes the gift offerings every year in the fall, offering five items annually. Beyond Baked Goods… In addition to the Sweet Home Project, the Dancing Deer staff uses their time to support the charity. "At One Family's main fundraiser in June, we do a cookie- decorating table and bring One Family house cookies so each child can decorate the cookie and put it in their box," Stanton says. "It's very messy but it's a lot of fun." As a company, the staff hosts a Thanksgiving party for One Family scholars—low-income single parents who receive tuition and training to move toward successful careers—and their families. Dancing Deer also organizes gingerbread house decorating parties at seven area homeless shelters. Each staff member has the opportunity to get involved. "For example, the customer service manager handles the gingerbread decorating parties and the master baker and head of quality control make the icing. Others man the tables," says Stanton. "It's a great volunteer effort for our employees." The gingerbread house events tie in with the company's holi- day gingerbread house product that features prebaked cookies in 120 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com "We have teachers who buy by the case at Christmas to give to each student so they can talk about how it's not just about what you receive but about giving back too." "As a company, we do gingerbread house decorating parties at seven diferent homeless shelters and a party for scholars of One Family and their kids around Thanksgiving." givingBack_dancingDear.indd 120 6/2/14 2:31 PM