Ahana Chowdhury
22nd November 2020
Scott McKenzie and Jeremy Uhrich set to deliver cookies for their Cookies for Caregivers initiative (Source: Jeremy Uhrich)
Amidst death and gloom, a very wholesome incident took place when two dads, Jeremy Uhrich, 42, and Scott McKenzie, 58, began their 'Cookies for Caregivers' initiative in an attempt to thank first responders and local business owners working during the COVID- 19 pandemic.
The initiative started when middle school teacher Uhrich saw his friend Scott's homemade chocolate chip cookies on a Facebook post. Driven by his desire to initiate a good-humoured rivalry, Uhrich put up on Facebook that he had baked cookies that day as well and proclaimed that his were better than Scott's. What followed was a bake-off challenge.
Uhrich and McKenzine decided to have some COVID warriors in their Huntington PA community judge the baked goods, as a gesture of gratitude for their service amidst the pandemic. The two dads also created a Facebook group—'Cookies for Caregivers' to invite other volunteering residents to join them in spreading joy.
"We just wanted to let these people know that we care about you, we recognize you, and we aren't forgetting about what you're doing," Uhrich told People. "This is just our small way of saying thank you and showing gratitude for what you have been doing and continue to do throughout the pandemic," he added.
Numerous bakers joined the Facebook group in the past few months and the bunch has since delivered over 15,100 snickerdoodles, sugar cookies, and cakes to hospital workers, grocery store employees and fire departments, as reported by People.
"We've seen a lot of smiles and tears during deliveries, people are so appreciative," Uhrich recollected.
The heart-warming initiative even reached beyond the boundaries of Huntington. Inspired by his son, Uhrich's father, Jerry, started his own group in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Even Uhrich's sons, Finley, 9, and Max, 6, began to help as three generations of Uhrichs became involved in spreading kindness.
Putting across a very valuable message, Uhrich said to People, "It's a good chance to teach the kids about what we're experiencing and why we're doing this. Why it is important to show gratitude to the people in our community who have to be brave, get up, go to work and battle this virus every day."
The dad duo intends to continue the drive for as long as possible. "There aren't enough people to thank," McKenzie muses. "Kindness doesn't have an expiration date."
(Sources: People, Yahoo News, The Washington Post, Fox News)
Edited by: Suditi Jha