This campaign is closed

Help Stroopie Co. Scale for Greater Impact

The Stroopie Co.'s heart - to provide meaningful employment for refugees while making great product

You may also be interested in

Closed
Closed
Closed
Closed
Closed

Help Stroopie Co. Scale for Greater Impact

Help Stroopie Co. Scale for Greater Impact

Help Stroopie Co. Scale for Greater Impact

Help Stroopie Co. Scale for Greater Impact

Help Stroopie Co. Scale for Greater Impact

The Stroopie Co.'s heart - to provide meaningful employment for refugees while making great product

The Stroopie Co.'s heart - to provide meaningful employment for refugees while making great product

The Stroopie Co.'s heart - to provide meaningful employment for refugees while making great product

The Stroopie Co.'s heart - to provide meaningful employment for refugees while making great product

Jennie Groff
Jennie Groff
Jennie Groff
Jennie Groff
1 Campaign |
Lancaster, United States
$4,761 USD by 122 backers
$4,741 USD by 121 backers on Aug 20, 2015
Choose your Perk

$1 Stroopie Gift Certificate

$1 USD
Est. Shipping
August 2015
3 claimed

$5.00 Stroopie Gift Card

$5 USD
Est. Shipping
August 2015
12 claimed

$20.00 Stroopie Gift Card

$20 USD
Est. Shipping
August 2015
32 claimed

$50.00 Stroopie Gift Card

$50 USD
Est. Shipping
August 2015
17 claimed

$100 Stroopie Gift Certificate

$100 USD
Est. Shipping
August 2015
11 claimed

$1,000 Stroopie Gift Card

$1,000 USD
Est. Shipping
August 2015
0 claimed

The Stroopie Co. was established in 2008 in  Lancaster, PA.    Since the founding our business, we have had two main goals: 

 1) To support refugees who are starting over in Lancaster by providing meaningful employment.

2) To make high quality Stroopies to sell in Lancaster and all over the US.

Currently, there are 60 million refugees world wide who have been forced to flee their countries due to war, natural disasters, and drought.   Each year our beautiful city of Lancaster, invites approx. 1,000 of these dear folks to get re-established in our area.   In addition to the turbulent and often-traumatic path to come to the United States, many refugees face a difficult time finding employment once they are resettled in Lancaster due to language and cultural barriers.        

The Stroopie Co., was founded with the goal of producing top notch Stroopies, while make a difference to the refugee population that is resettling in Lancaster.  

So what is a Stroopie?  A Stroopie is a Dutch stroopwafel, that is made here locally.   It is a cinnamon cookie, made with a waffle iron with a layer of homemade caramel in the inside.   Traditionally, the Stroopie is placed on top of your hot beverage to rewarm.  It is also great with ice cream!   Some of our Stroopies are half-dipped in Wilbur Chocolate.  Other varieties include specialty dipped chocolate with pecan and espresso and a gluten-free line.   Stroopies are hand-made with local ingredients from companies that are committed to being socially responsible.   See more at our website:  www.stroopies.com or like us at our facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lancaster-County...

Would you help us move our Stroopie Co. to Lancaster City?  

Currently, we are sub-leasing space and renting equipment to make our Stroopies at Groff's Candies, in Millersville, PA.

In January 2015, doors opened for us to purchase a store-front at 141 North Duke St., in Lancaster City.   We couldn't be more thrilled to be moving our Stroopie Co. into the city!   This will help us have a stronger market in downtown Lancaster and also be a more accessible location for the refugees that we are hiring.

We are proud to present, "The Lancaster Sweet Shoppe" where we will make and feature our Stroopies, along with Groff's Candies, and Pine View Dairy Ice Cream.   Partnering with these other businesses will allow us to offer a delightful array of treats and at the same time give us a boost in our goal  of hiring refugees for full-time positions, giving them the tools they need to successfully acclimate to the community as well as become successful in their future ventures. 

                      (Representation of future sight at 141 N Duke St)


How can you help? 

By partnering with us in this campaign, you can pre-order Stroopies and help us buy the equipment that we will need at our new Shoppe at the same time.   

We need approx. $20,000 dollars to buy mixers, irons, and equipment to get us in production in our new Shoppe on Duke St..

For every $1.00 that is given, The Stroopie Co. will send you a gift certificate of the same amount to be redeemed for Stroopies at the Lancaster Sweet Shoppe, opening summer 2016.    You will also be able to redeem the gift certificate as soon as you get it at our current location at Groff's Candies at 3587 Blue Rock Rd, Lancaster, 17603.

For example, if you give a $50 dollar donation to our campaign, we will in return send you via e-mail a $50 printable gift certificate that you can redeem for Stroopies at The Lancaster Sweet Shoppe next summer or at Groff's Candies.

The Impact:

 Currently, we are making approx. 62,000 Stroopies a year to cover our fixed and variable costs.   We wholesale our Stroopies to over 50 stores in the US.

 To date we have been able to hire 12 refugees to work seasonally at our company.   The Stroopie Co's dream is to scale and grow the business so that meaningful full-time employment can be provided to refugees resettling in Lancaster year round.   

Right now we make 1,200 Stroopies each week.   In three years we hope to be making  6,000 additional Stroopies a week, and have four refugees working full-time with the Stroopie Co.   We view it as success for our employees to either move up in leadership positions in our company, or equal success if they use our company as a spring board to leap into other occupations.    

Vision of Success:  Refugees finding meaningful employment in our Stroopie Co., while producing great product in a growing business!

We are Jonathan and Jennie Groff,  part owners of the Stroopie Co. based out of Lancaster, PA.   We are thrilled to be a part of the Pitch 2015, representing the Stroopie Co.   We are a husband and wife team...married 15 wonderful years and have 4 beautiful children.   Our home is on Old Dorwart St., Lancaster City.   We have enjoyed living in this diverse neighborhood where we have the nations of the world as our neighbors.   It has been our delight as a family to host different international students through the years and to have friends from around the world. Our passion in life is to do everything we do as worship to God and to love our neighbor well!

                                                  

The Stroopie Co. thanks you so much for your support and your encouragement as we have worked tirelessly to get our social enterprise off the ground and running.   We understand that not everyone can contribute to our business...but PLEASE spread our story and help us get the word out about our vision and our product.   Also, think about who might appreciate a Stroopie Gift Pack this holiday season....they make great gifts!!!  

  For sure, come visit us in our new location, "The Lancaster Sweet Shoppe," next summer!   We look forward to giving you a tour, introducing you to some of our wonderful refugee employees, and sending you home with warm, fresh Stroopies to enjoy with your hot beverage!  


This crowdfunding campaign is part of The Great Social Enterprise Pitch, a friendly competition facilitated by ASSETS and the Lancaster County Community Foundation. The Pitch consists of social enterprise ideas based in Central Pennsylvania. A Social Enterprise is a market-based, income-generating enterprise that aims to solve a social and/or environmental problem through its business activities.  Social enterprises focus on a trip bottom line:  people, planet, and profit.  Upon completion of the Crowdfunding phase of the competition, 5 ideas will be chosen to move on to the Live Pitch, during which the contestants will present their ideas to a panel of judges, with winners receiving a package of cash and pro-bono prizes. In 2014, winners received nearly $40,000 in cash and pro-bono prizes.
Please visit www.lancasterpitch.com for more information.  To access to the crowdfunding sites of all participating social enterprise ideas, click here:  https://www.indiegogo.com/partners/SocialEnterprisePitch.



Looking for more information? Check the project FAQ
Need more information
Let us know if you think this campaign contains prohibited content.

You may also be interested in

Up Caret