When Midnight Cookies, a former bakery located on Southwest 34th Street, closed its shop on Sept. 27, many longtime customers assumed it was the end of their favorite dessert spot. But less than a month later, the bakery announced a recipe-based fundraiser with all proceeds benefiting the Humane Society of North Central Florida.
The shop’s owners, Jonathan and Jennifer Macallister, launched the fundraiser in partnership with the Humane Society of North Central Florida, intending to give back to their customers while also raising money for the nonprofit organization.
“My wife and I are both dog owners, so we wanted to reach out to the Humane Society to see if they could do something where we can put an incentive for people to donate by releasing the recipes as we collect donations,” Jonathan Macallister said.
Macallister and his wife have long been connected to pet rescue in Gainesville. They have adopted two dogs from local rescues and have continued to support the Humane Society even after losing both pets.
“When we lost one of them, we paid for the adoption fees for someone to adopt a dog from the Humane Society,” Macallister said. “So we have had ties to them over the years while living in Gainesville, so we wanted to help them out.”
The fundraiser offers fans access to Midnight Cookies’ most popular cookie recipes in exchange for donations. Each recipe is tied to a specific donation goal, and once that amount is reached, the shop releases the recipe on its Instagram account, @midnightcookiesgainesville.
As of Nov. 19, the fundraiser had raised $1,464 toward its $2,000 goal. So far, Midnight Cookies has published the recipes for its sugar, dirt and S’mores cookies. Once the fundraiser hits that last milestone, the bakery will release the recipe for its most in-demand flavor, Bananas Foster.
“We knew what recipes our fans wanted us to release specifically… so we figured we’d set a goal and make that the top goal where we would release the most demanded recipe once we reach our goal,” Macallister said.
Macallister said that there are still more flavors that former customers are asking to be released. So, Macallister does not plan on stopping at helping out the Humane Society.
“We might look into working with another animal rescue and doing some kind of incentive for them to release even more recipes,” Macallister said. “Or if we exceed our goal by a decent amount, we might just start releasing several other recipes over the next couple of months.”
Fans have responded enthusiastically, showing that Midnight Cookies’ recipes still hold a special place in the community.
“People who used to come to our business when they were college students who are now out of state…want the recipes,” Macallister said. “They have a love for Gainesville and for us, [and] appreciate what we're trying to do instead of just releasing them.”
During the last weeks of the bakery’s operation, the couple noticed how much their customers cared.
“The last few weeks of business…we saw so many people from out of town, like when they would come for the football games, or they would just say ‘we need to make a trip back to Gainesville because we wanna try them out one last time,’” he said. “We just saw that there was so much love for our business that we needed to continue this legacy as much as we can.”
The fundraiser also gives customers a chance to enjoy Midnight Cookies’ creations during the holidays.
“We’re excited that people can still enjoy all our deliciousness and love that we wanted them to enjoy for all these years,” Macallister said
The Humane Society of North Central Florida said the fundraiser is a first-of-its-kind effort for the organization, but it has been very successful so far.
“They pitched this idea to us and we thought it was a great idea,” Jordyn Chiodo, development coordinator of the Humane Society of North Central Florida, said. “We’ve never done something like this before, so we decided to go with it, and so far it’s been very good.”
Chiodo said the funds raised go toward the Humane Society’s general fund, primarily supporting pet supplies.
The fundraiser has grown quickly through social media, with both Midnight Cookies and the Humane Society posting updates on Instagram and Facebook. The Humane Society also included the fundraiser in its weekly newsletter.
“People are sad to see they’re closing, but are also happy to be supporting us with this campaign and excited to get access to their recipes,” Chiodo said.
Chiodo added that the fundraiser is meaningful because it reflects the passion of local businesses supporting the community.
“It really means a lot when a business reaches out with this kind of idea and is really passionate about hosting a fundraiser for us,” she said.
Local business partnerships are crucial for the Humane Society’s outreach. “We can only reach so many people, so they help us reach a larger audience and spread awareness of what we’re trying to do in Gainesville,” Chiodo said.
She added that the success of Midnight Cookies’ fundraiser could encourage other small businesses to get involved in creative ways.
“Even if it’s not a monetary drive, we always appreciate pet supply drives and just awareness drives,” Chiodo said.
Even without a storefront, Midnight Cookies continues to connect with the Gainesville community through its fundraiser.
With the fundraiser still underway, Macallister said he hopes the community will continue supporting both the campaign and the Humane Society. Through cookies and contributions, Midnight Cookies is keeping its Gainesville legacy alive, one recipe and one donation at a time.
