Headshot Photo of Gabriella Cooperman
2017 Award Recipient

GabriellaCooperman

Project Cookies For Charity

Location Highland Park, IL

Issue Area Disability Justice | Philanthropy

When Gabriella saw how therapeutic horse riding was for her sister, who has special needs, she came up with the idea that sparked Cookies for Charity, a large-scale lemonade and cookie stand. 100% of the profits from Cookies for Charity go to a local nonprofit therapeutic horseback riding center in Lake Forest, Illinois, called the Equestrian Connection.

In eleven years, over $130,000 have been raised, with sponsorship from twenty-one organizations. Cookies for Charity carves out a pathway for those who want to help repair the world but have no idea where to start, while aiding in destigmatizing children with special needs.

As a little five year old, I believed I could help repair the world, and through Cookies for Charity I proved that I could.

Gabriella Cooperman
“It is never too late, too early, or too often TO GIVE BACK AND MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE”
Helen Diller