Volunteers in Los Angeles and around the country are delivering homemade cookies today to gas station attendants, baristas, grocery store clerks and other people working on Christmas Day.

“It’s easy to remember the firefighters and policemen who work on Christmas Day,” John Marcotte, founder of the Cookie Project, said of edibles often given to public safety workers who have Christmas duty.

“Even soup kitchens are booked with volunteers,” Marcotte said. “But no one remembers the guy at the fryer at a fast food restaurant or the person making your latte.”

These workers deserve recognition too, said Marcotte, who lives in Sacramento.


Two years ago, he rallied his family and friends in Sacramento and surprised movie theater projectionists, Sizzler janitors and grocery story workers with homemade Christmas cookies. Some cried, he said, others did “cookie dances” in good humor.

His message went viral the next year, and volunteers in San Francisco and elsewhere baked and delivered cookies to those who couldn’t spend Christmas with their families. More than 1,500 cookies were delivered in Sacramento alone, Marcotte said.

This year, Michael Hope brought the Cookie Project to Los Angeles.

“I saw what John was doing up in Sacramento and really bought into his message,” he said. “Christmas is about giving.”


Hope and his family and friends baked about 200 cookies and have been delivering them to workers across Los Angeles.

“We’re hoping to spread the magic,” Hope said. “We’re out to make someone’s day.”

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