Giving back helped save Uniontown bakery
When two Fayette County women opened Goodie Girls Bakery in Uniontown, it was important to them to use the business as a vehicle to give back to worthy causes.
And it was a “peachy” cookie donation, they said, that ultimately kept their doors open.
Owners Jamie Pikulsky and Joyce Stewart started Goodie Girls, unofficially, about six years ago as a way to pay tribute to a friend who passed away.
“We named it that because we make goodies, and we do good deeds for the community,” Pikulsky said.
During that first year, they raised $10,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society by selling cakes. In their second year of operations, they raised $15,000.
On Mother’s Day in 2019, they took the plunge and opened a storefront at 90 W. Main St.
The storefront did wonderfully, Pikulsky said, and the women continued to support community causes. Then COVID-19 hit.
While the state-ordered mitigation efforts didn’t close the bakery because they sold food, the restrictions did limit or eliminate gatherings, which hurt them.
“The majority of our business is making cakes for weddings and parties,” Pikulsky said.
They revamped their business to offer more in-store items for purchase, but it wasn’t enough. They had four full-time employees who relied upon their paychecks, and the business was struggling.
“It was very hard,” Pikulsky said. “We were working 60 hours a week and pretty much didn’t make any personal income the entire year. Our priority was making sure the doors didn’t shut and the employees got paid.”
They tried applying for various grants, but none came through.
The women were forced to consider closing Goodie Girls if something didn’t happen – and something certainly did.
Pikulsky is a member of the Wedding Cookie Table Community on Facebook, a page that includes thousands of members across the country. She saw a post looking for volunteers to bake and donate cookies to the Washington City Mission in neighboring Washington County as part of its recent “Sweet Sunday” fundraiser.
The page moderator, Laura Magone, asked its more than 56,000 members to bake and donate cookies for the fundraiser in January, hoping to have 1,000 dozen cookies made for sale to support the City Mission’s efforts. Magone was looking for 100 bakers to each make 10 dozen cookies for the effort.
“I told her that I was interested, and I would donate 10 dozen Italian peach cookies,” Pikulsky said, adding she was surprised to learn she was one of the few people who made them.
Magone asked if Goodie Girls would be interested in being the preferred vendor for the labor-intensive cookies. It meant they would receive donations from people who wanted to sponsor them for making the cookies.
At $20 per dozen, the sponsorships came fast and furious.
Ultimately, in one week’s time the bakery produced 75 dozen peach cookies.
The willingness to give – and having that turn into something more – paid the rent for the struggling business for another month, Pikulsky said.
And last week, they got a bit of good news: one of the many grants they applied for came through, giving the business a cushion.
While the past year was stressful, Pikulsky said, she’s hopeful that things keep moving full steam ahead and the bakery can continue to give back.
“I can’t complain; it was a wonderful experience to be involved with this,” Pikulsky said. “Not only did it provide us with more business, but gave us the feel-good vibes of being involved. It put a little sunshine in our lives and let us help the City Mission.”