About Us

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Bake Me Home was established in 2008 by then 7-year-old twin sisters, Amy and Emma Bushman, with help from their mom Alison. Bake Me Home grew from their desire to do something more for the homeless family shelter where they had volunteered together for 3 years. Their volunteer work began with collecting items for the shelter at the twins’ birthday party each year.  Once the items were gathered, they delivered them to the shelter and prepared a homemade pancake breakfast for the families. While they always enjoyed working together in the kitchen, it saddened them to see the shelter children standing in the doorway watching (for safety reasons, the shelter children were never allowed to enter the kitchen).  For Alison especially, this kitchen threshold heartbreakingly represented another line between the life her children were living, and the lives of the kids struggling with homelessness.  As the girls grew older, they decided that a simple jar of cookie mix for families leaving the shelter could give those children the experience of baking with their mom that they loved to do so much, and Bake Me Home was born.  What an opportunity to help these families cross that threshold of their new home with a joyous experience together!  After lots of hard work (and taste testing!) Alison, Amy and Emma perfected their original Bake Me Home Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe for their jar, and added all the necessary baking supplies (bowl, pan, spoon, spatula, pot holder), including a Kroger gift card for butter and eggs (and a few other grocery items) to a tote bag for families in need.  They have been blessed to receive support from more than 200 generous volunteers who share their passion for making the world a better place, one cookie at a time!  After 5 years the organization has grown to include 4 programs that serve people from 15 agencies (shelters, food pantries, and ProKids) in Hamilton, Clermont, Butler and Warren counties, and troops serving overseas.  In addition to the primary Tote Bag Program, Bake Me Home offers a Family Portrait Program, Bake Me BACK Home Program, and Bake It Forward Program.
This growth also necessitated the need for more space!  In February 2013, Bake Me Home moved into a new building in Mt. Washington.  The office portion of the renovations were completed with a great volunteer team, but there is still more work to be done to install a kitchen with commercial appliances suitable for hosting volunteer groups, filling hundreds of jars of cookie mix and baking thousands of cookies!
You can contact us at cookiegirls@bakemehome.com or PO Box 30082, Cincinnati, OH 45230.

 

Mission Statement

Bake Me Home is a charitable organization dedicated to promoting volunteerism and providing disadvantaged moms and kids with direct services that encourage shared family experiences.

Board of Directors

Amy Zimmerman, Board Chair
Alison Bushman, Bake Me Home President
Amy Bushman, Bake Me Home Co-Founder
Emma Bushman, Bake Me Home Co-Founder
Marianne Falk, Secretary
Jennifer Hartley, Treasurer
Tammy Imhoff
Natalie Wais

501(c)(3) Status and Financials