You can now order treats baked by local Syrian women on Facebook.
Since December, members of the group Arizona Welcomes Refugees have organized five big bake sales as a way for Syrian refugees resettled in Tucson to make some extra cash and meet the community. The success of those sweets exchanges triggered a similar series of sales in Phoenix.
In recent months, about 30 of the women baking have earned a home baked and confectionery goods certification from the Arizona Department of Health Services, meaning they have completed a food handling safety program at the state level, says Melanie Cooley, one of the original bake sale organizers.
There's also a lingering possibility of a partnership with the YWCA's Women's Business Center, though nothing is official yet.
After the April sale at the Anatolia Cultural Centers didn't attract the crowd organizers hoped for, Rania Kanawati decided to try a different approach.
"Everybody is very busy with the end of the year at school, so I thought to keep the business going — and I'm kind of like a sponsor of this program —I'll provide boxes and we'll take orders and we'll box them, so starting a little business for them," says Kanawati, another key organizer.
Some of the women also sell treats from personal Facebook pages, but English remains a barrier, says Kanawati, who moved to the United States from Syria about 24 years ago.
At the community sales, the bakers shared their phone numbers, asking future customers to text their orders. That would give each baker a chance to translate the query to fulfill the order.
"But people were getting texted and not answering, so when they told me that, I said, 'I will help you for a while to take orders and help you until you get stronger in English and can do it yourself,'" Kanawati says.
She's currently working with five women, each specializing in a different treat. The bakers still get all of the proceeds, Kanawati says.
Amy LaCross, 37, attended one of the first Syrian bake sales and loved everything.
On Facebook, she was able to order a dozen treats for a brunch last Sunday, placing her order Wednesday through the Facebook page and then picking the goodies up at a designated meeting spot.
"I honestly don't know much about what the sweets are called, and said, 'You should pick,'" she says. "And they made delightful choices."
A menu is in the works.
The goal, Kanawati says, is to eventually establish a small sweets shop in town, run by multiple families.
For now, those with a sweet tooth can order boxes of 30 treats for around $35-$40, 15 for $18-$20 or 12 treats for about $13.
"We need to keep this momentum going," Kanawati says. "One of the ladies is like, 'I feel like this has potential to make this a business.'"
To order treats online and stay up-to-date about in-person sales, visit facebook.com/SyrianRefugeeSweets. Note that the Facebook page to places orders is Syrian Refugee Sweets NOT Syrian Sweets Tucson. The latter is a broader hub for all things Syrian sweets.
