Loveworks Leadership is hosting its second Cookiefest fundraising event Saturday.
Loveworks Leadership is an after-school program for middle schoolers where parents, teachers, business professionals and volunteers help shape the next generation’s leadership skills.
According to Carolyn Le Spitler, Loveworks Leadership executive director, the idea of Cookiefest came to light due to other fundraising events like the “Rosser” Memorial Golf Tourney. Le Spitler said she wanted to come up with a fundraiser that Loveworks Leadership students and families could participate in.
“I'd say the people of Loveworks love cookies, and we're big foodies. It was kind of marrying these ideas of ‘let's involve our families, let's involve our students,' but let's also do something that we're also personally passionate about,” Le Spitler said.
Cookiefest is a mix between professional and nonprofessional bakers, with this year having 17 vendors including students from Loveworks and cookies donated from well known bakeries, like La Baguette.
“They're a mix of professional vendors that are all local vendors from around town, as well as home bakers and our youth bakers,” Le Spitler said “We have our students who are actually participating with their cookies as well.”
Le Spitler said Cookiefest started as a campaign event last year to raise money to move to a location more central to Norman schools.
“Our goal is really to provide them with something to do after school that's going to be meaningful, because one in five middle school students go home to nothing and to no one,” Le Spitler said.
According to Le Spitler, Loveworks Leadership wanted to promote local vendors and bakers around the community in addition to empowering middle schoolers at their after-school program.
“(It) helps our students understand that they can make a difference in our community too,” Le Spitler said. “They're not just recipients of the program, but they get to pour back into it.”
According to Le Spitler, one of her favorite parts of Cookiefest is voting on favorite bakers, where anyone who enters the festival can have a chance to win.
“Last year, one of our students won, Miss Aleah won with her chocolate chip cookies. We actually got to give her Best Baker of 2025 for Cookiefest. And she is reentering this year to defend her title,” Le Spitler said.
Cookie Fest is 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at The Well.
Entrance to the event is free, but guests are encouraged to reserve tickets to trade for cookies with vendors. Tickets start at $10 and are available online.
This story was edited by Macey Thaxton and Madisson Cameron. This story was copy edited by Kylie Caldwell and Sophie Hemker.
