Sweet tidings: Mom, kids deliver Christmas treats to first responders, helpers
Every holiday season for the past 12 years, Carrie Brown and her children have been making Christmas cookies and delivering them to local first responders and people who have helped them throughout the year.
This week, Brown, of Chartiers Township, and four of her children criss-crossed Washington County to deliver 220 dozen sweet treats. That’s more than 2,600 cookies, ranging from buckeye balls, chocolate-covered Oreos, chocolate-covered peanut butter crackers and chocolate chip cookies to mini cheese cakes and peanut butter blossoms.
“I started out making cookies for my family for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I ended up taking a tray to my twin daughters’ pediatrician’s office,” recalled Brown. “The staff was so grateful and happy, they said, ‘Wow, nobody ever really thinks of doing things for us,’ so the next year we ended up doing over 20 trays to deliver.”
It’s her way of recognizing the unsung heroes who play a role in her family’s life.
That includes plenty of people: she and the kids – twins Tessa and Kendra, 14, Gage, 12, and Mela, 6 – have made cookies for Chartiers Township police officers and firefighters; Chartiers-Houston elementary, middle and high school staff; the family’s dentists and doctors, barber and hairstylist; the pharmacist and therapists; veterinarians and staff who care for their dogs, and their neighbors. The family also drops off cookies to nursing homes – this year they are visiting Premiere Washington Health Center and Townview Health and Rehabilitation Center in Canonsburg to drop off homemade cards and cookies.
Brown bakes all of her cookies over a two-day span, starting early in the morning and working until late at night. Her best friend, Elley Beatty, pops over to help, and Brown estimated it took the duo about 25 hours to get all of her cookies done this year.
Then comes the fun part. Brown’s children take a day off from school (Brown calls it an “act of kindness day”) to deliver the cookie platters.
“Basically, it’s just giving back to the community and trying to teach my kids to give back to the world and to be kind,” said Brown. “We try to give back to the people who care for us all year long. I think people sometimes forget how hard our pharmacists and doctors and nurses work, and everyone who takes care of you, and the important role they play in our lives.”
The first few years, the recipients were surprised the Browns went through the effort to do it. But now, they look forward to it.
Chartiers Township Police Department Chief Steven Horvath said the police officers appreciate the cookies and the gesture of goodwill behind it.
“They stop here every year. We’re always very appreciative when we get supported like that. It’s such a nice feeling for us and our team. It’s awesome, totally awesome. It puts a smile on our face, said Horvath. “We have a great community, and so many residents and people we deal with will bring us things and say thank you. And the cookies areme very good, and you’ll see a guy heading out grabbing a couple cookies, they enjoy them.”
Chartiers Township Fire Department Chief Fred Simpson agreed.
“It means a lot. We get up in the middle of the night and early in the morning for calls, and it’s nice to know that people are thinking about us, and it’s nice to have something to munch on when we go in. We know people care about us,” said Simpson.
Brown plans to continue her tradition, her way of spreading kindness during the holidays.
She said it’s a lesson she learned from her mother.
“My mom taught me to always give back, that you never know what someone is going through,” said Brown, who also performs acts of kindness throughout the year, like sending pizza and snacks to hospitals. “People said they can’t believe I’m still doing this, but I love doing it, I really do. It’s fun to drive around with my kids for six or seven hours and spread a little bit of kindness. I hope my kids do this with their children someday.”