Cookies Could Be a Treat for Charity

Miguel Villa doesn’t just see a treat when he spots a cookie, he also sees a great way to make a living while aiding the less fortunate.

So Villa, 30, left his job as a loan officer and created a company, Cookie Share, with the idea of splitting profits from cookie sales with local charities.

The Simi Valley resident began placing cookie jars at businesses throughout the city in August. The jars of individually wrapped cookies are now on display at 60 locations in Simi Valley and nearly 120 more in the San Fernando Valley.

Once the company is profitable by next spring, Villa said, about a nickel or 6 cents of the 50-cent price of each cookie will go to charity.

In the meantime, the company donates month-old cookies from the jars to Food Share, Ventura County’s food bank, before they go stale.

The company has sold or donated close to 30,000 cookies, Villa said. Villa has donated 7,700 cookies to Food Share and expects to donate an additional 1,500 by Thanksgiving.

Food Share has shown interest in establishing a more formal partnership with Cookie Share. Villa hopes the partnership will show customers the business is serious, and Food Share hopes to see some of the eventual profits.

“As soon as we see that it makes sense and there’s profits, we’ll split it right away,” Villa said.

For now, the cookies work well enough for Food Share.

“It’s really great,” said Jim Mangis, the charity’s executive director. “He just sent us some the other day.”

The donated cookies go mostly to the Kids Cafe program run by Food Share. The program serves snacks and meals to 1,500 low-income children weekdays at after-school programs, including the Boys & Girls Club of Simi Valley.

“It seems like such a good idea and the names seemed to work well together,” Mangis said. “We’re very excited about working with Cookie Share.”

If the business takes off, Villa said he would also like to support Casa Pacifica in Camarillo and the Boys & Girls Club of Oxnard.