CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Chicago Chef Alvin Green has been cooking since he was 6 years old. His true passion, though, is baking, and after his son Aiden was diagnosed with autism, Green said he decided to launch Al’s Cookie Mixx — and take on a new title in addition to dad and chef.
“I am CCO — Chief Cookie Officer,” Green told WBBM.
Based in the Beverly neighborhood, Al’s Cookie Mixx sells handmade gourmet cookies across the nation via the web. Green said customers customize and build their own cookie online — vanilla, chocolate or oatmeal — and then choose from a list of “Mixx-ins” to finish it off. They hand-mix each small batch order, bake it and ship it anywhere in the country.
“Our tagline is: Your enjoyment provides employment,” Green said. “We tell everyone that the more cookies we sell, the more employees we can have.”
That tagline gets to the core of what sets Al’s Cookie Mixx apart: It began as a way to give Green’s adult son with autism and his friends with disabilities good, paying jobs at a family-run business.
“Our goal is to make sure that adults with special needs have employment opportunities, because there’s a saying in the community of special needs parents: ‘What happens when the bus stops coming?’” he said. “That usually is around 22, when they pretty much age out of most programs.”
Opportunities like this for adults with disabilities aren’t necessarily rare, but they are more often found in affluent suburban communities. A 2021 report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that less than 20% of adults with a disability were employed.
As the founder of a fairly new company, Green told WBBM that future plans do involve partnering with Special Olympics.
“Once we get fully going, part of the proceeds will go to Special Olympics because they cover all of the special needs,” he said.
Green said some special guests have stopped by the kitchen from time to time to provide some help and encouragement for the Al’s Cookie Mixx crew.
“Tommy Shimoda, he is the only Special Olympic athlete who’s in the Chicago Sports Hall of Fame,” he said. “He went to the Special Olympics world games … and won three medals: two silvers and one gold.”
Some of Green’s favorites include white chocolate cranberry, triple chocolate chip, even a Vegan Double Chocolate chip — but his wife and business partner Angela shared the most important ingredient of all.
“We have really delicious cookies, and the most important ingredient is love,” Angela said.
Beverly-based Al’s Cookie Mixx, Made in Chicago.
“It’s a family business. It’s my wife, my son, myself, my brother, my sister-in-law, and my nephew.”
Order online through the Al’s Cookie Mixx website.
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