Blessed Bakery: Nonprofit bakery warms your heart and your tastebuds

The Blessed Bakery, a nonprofit, online bakery based in Columbus, Ohio, donates to mutual aid funds to directly assist Black and Indigenous communities and was founded by Keji Latio, a third-year in respiratory therapy. Credit: Melinda Boyd | Photographer

By Asia Atuah

The cookie’s outside gives a crisp crunch, and followed by a gooey, chewy and soft inside, these treats are overflowing with sweet flavors. These cookies, served warm, are found at none other than The Blessed Bakery. 

Based in Columbus, Ohio, this nonprofit, online bakery is run entirely by Keji Latio, a third-year in respiratory therapy, who brings cookies to her customers through a same-day pickup and delivery service. 

Bakery proceeds go entirely towards various emergency mutual aid funds for Black and Indigenous communities, both locally and around the world. Latio said it allows her to properly connect with people in need and distribute the funds in a manner that best fits those communities.  

“I know exactly where things are going and that makes me feel more fulfilled knowing that there’s no red tape, there’s no weird middle-man,” she said. “It’s to support the community, because at the end of the day that was the goal, that was the mission. It’s never been anything else but that.” 

Megan Meitner, a homeowner in the Hilltop neighborhood, said she has ordered twice now from the bakery and continues her support because of the personal connection and level of communication Latio had with her. 

“I love the idea that I can support someone, support a business, and help support other people around the world,” Meitner said. “Also, these cookies are just so good. Like, everybody needs a cookie.”

The bakery sells cookies of various flavors, including plant-based options. Customers can receive their cookies through either pickup at 4 p.m. on Saturdays from the Ohio Union on campus, or contactless delivery – the bakery currently only delivers to Columbus proper addresses, not suburbs. 

Customers can reach out by email and further specify any allergies along with their order, since a few common ingredients she uses for the cookies – peanuts and various tree nuts, for example – are prominent allergens. 

Maleeka Bokhari, a fourth-year in neuroscience, said she got her money’s worth from ordering the cookies, which were huge and that she really enjoyed sharing with friends. 

“I can’t think of a place where you could buy cookies similar to them,” Bokhari said. “Like, they were very homemade. Like, you can’t just go and buy those.”

Ohio State student Keji Latio, a third-year in respiratory therapy, is founder of the Blessed Bakery and runs all its operations. Credit | Emmanuel Latio

Working with customers to carefully deliver orders and comply with social distancing protocols since food safety regulations have heightened in response to COVID-19, keeping customers happy - and healthy, has always been a priority for Latio. 

Inside the kitchen, that means frequently wiping down counter spaces, wearing gloves and masks, and avoiding touching foreign items so as to not cross-contaminate utensils in order to  keep certain ingredients to their separate batches. 

“I can’t control what other people’s lives are. But I can control my own setting and my own setup,” she said.

For this young businesswoman, it's more than a hobby - it’s a second job. When she’s not mixing and preparing dough, baking the cookies and making deliveries, Latio focuses on everything from social media engagement, preparing photos, accounting and taxes,to running the online store, which also includes programming and coding tasks. 

While tough and time-consuming work, Latio said she is glad to be running the bakery, since she is passionate about the service.

 “At the end of the day, I could be spending 20 hours a week doing much less enjoyable things, and I don’t think I could do it if I didn’t love it,” she said. 

Although plans for the future are tentative, Latio said she’ll work on taking things slow and focus on things one day at a time. She knows for certain, however, that whatever comes next, it will be rooted in helping others. 

“I do definitely think that no matter where I go, with the bakery, with my career as a respiratory therapist, I do know that my goal will always be to serve others, in the ways I can best.” Latio said. 

Orders can be placed on the bakery’s website.