SMART COOKIES

By Debra Rich Gettleman

In 2008, three modern orthodox women, Laurie Wexler, Sara Portman Milner, and Dina Leener, all guided by a sweet tooth and a passion to repair the world, came up with an idea of using pastry arts and baking to help young adults with learning differences find meaningful employment.

They met with government leaders and service providers to fully understand the plight of job scarcity for these young people in the Metro DC area. Then in May of 2009, Sunflower Bakery opened their 501(c)3 non-profit 8-month pilot program in a Potomac, MD donated kitchen at Sholom Congregation and began offering vocational training in pastry arts and baking.

The bakery idea wasn’t based on some whimsical sentiment. The three founders actually commissioned a study by an MBA class at American University’s Kogod School of Business that showed a real demand in the local kosher sector for baked goods. In 2010 Sunflower Bakery moved into a 1200 square foot warehouse in Gaithersburg, WA with donated bakery equipment and the support of the Maryland Division of Rehabilitation Services. Then, in 2011, they opened the Pastry Arts Program. Sunflower’s kosher/pareve bakery has grown and expanded over the years, and now occupies its new home in Rockville, MD where they offer both the Pastry Arts and Hospitality Employment Training programs.

Why baking? According to Executive Director, Jody Tick, “It’s consistency, recipe following, and structure. It’s also repetition. All things we see a need for in this industry.”

“A significant percentage of our students fall in the autism spectrum,” she tells me. “Pastry Arts is our signature training program. It’s been with us from the beginning.” In 2015 they opened Café Sunflower, a collaboration of Sunflower Bakery along with the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and the Jewish Foundation for Group Homes. The Cafe expanded employment training and employment opportunities to adults with learning differences in frontof-house operations and customer service.

In January of 2020, Sunflower moved into their new Sunflower