Crumbl Cookie spreading sweetness throughout community

Maricopa’s first responders — fire, police, hospital and emergency workers — have a tough job. They provide protection to all residents, and don’t always receive the thanks they deserve.

Crumbl Cookie, known for providing delicious, sweet desserts to its customers across Arizona and the U.S., was determined to change that.

When Jason Armstrong decided to open his eighth Valley Crumbl location in Maricopa last year, his plan to deliver the store’s leftover cookies to first responders at the end of each day was a match made in heaven.

Since Crumbl’s opening in late July of last year, Armstrong has directed his employees to take each day’s unsold cookies to the Police Department, fire stations or Exceptional Community Hospital as a thank you for the work they do.

“These folks are the ones protecting our community,” Armstrong said. “We do this at all our stores around the Valley because we want to show these people how much we appreciate what they do for our communities.”

Armstrong said the program seemed like a natural service to provide to those who give so much to the community.

“Hospitals can have some low morale sometimes, and we know police and fire are on duty 24/7,” he said. “Sometimes getting a delivery of Crumbl Cookies puts a smile on their faces and that makes us feel good, as well.”

Kathy Alvarez, manager of the Maricopa Crumbl in Sonoran Creek between MOD Pizza and Jimmy John’s, said the store staff had to adjust initially to meet demands of the recipients.

“We ran into a situation early on when we were delivering to a fire station late night on a weekend, when we are open until midnight,” Alvarez said “We got there to make the delivery and the firefighters were all asleep. So now when we’re open late we make the deliveries to fire stations the next morning.”

She said sometimes if the employee is heading to the police station and passes a patrol car, they will simply hand them off to the officer to deliver to the station. She also does a little something else for the police officers and firefighters.

“I try to give them a discount if they come in while on duty and they are in area for an incident,” Alvarez said. “Unfortunately, in today’s world, our first responders are not always the most loved people as they should be. They don’t always get the gratitude they should get. I didn’t grow up in that kind of world. They put their lives in danger to help us.

“The nurses and the people at the hospital really seem to love it,” Alvarez continued. “We get these beaming smiles because a lot of time those nurses are not appreciated — or if they are it’s not always shown. They work long days, and do things most of us can’t imagine, so if we can brighten their day even a little, it’s worth it.”

Armstrong said the store typically has 50 to 70 cookies left over at the end of a day. While that may seem like a lot, it’s because he wants to make sure that whenever a customer comes into the store, the cookie they want will be available.

Crumbl offers six flavors each week, chosen from its 164 available options (their classic chocolate chip is always on the menu). Armstrong said they try to keep a tray of 12 of each flavor in the case all the time.

“So, If we have a tray of 12 of each at end of night, we end up with 50-70 cookies left over,” he said. “If we had a perfect night, we’d sell every single cookie with the last one going out the door right as we close, but that happens maybe once a year. We make our cookies fresh every day, we crack the eggs, we mix the ingredients right here in the store, we don’t use any preservatives, so the cookies can only stay in the warmer for two hours if they are not sold. Those that do not get sold, we set aside and donate those at end of day.

“Instead of tossing the cookies, we pay our kids a little extra to take them by the police or fire station or the hospital. Our policy is we’re in the community, so let’s be part of the community.”

 

This content was previously published in the June issue of InMaricopa Magazine.