As many of you who’ve been around Zingerman’s for a while will already know, the canine love of my life, Jelly Bean, passed away at the end of May 2015. At the time, the grief was overwhelming—the loss of 17 years of close connection hit me hard. When Jelly Bean died, we wanted to try to take the sadness and loss and turn it toward a positive legacy, something to honor the kind, caring contribution she made to my life, and to the lives of so many others over the years.
The following fall, we started the Jelly Bean Jump Up as a fundraiser in her memory for SafeHouse Center. It’s a great cause. SafeHouse provides a safe haven for adults and children who are otherwise trapped in abusive home settings. The spirit of positivity, hope, and generosity that Jelly Bean demonstrated every day is also what SafeHouse is all about. And that’s how the Jelly Bean Jump Up got started.
This week marks the start of the eighth time we’ll be doing the Jump Up! As you would imagine, we got a bit sidetracked by the pandemic. (For much more on my/our experience of the pandemic, see “Working Through Hard Times.”) I’m happy to say we’re back up and running by helping to raise some money.
Corgi Cookies
Starting this week, the very kind and extremely generous folks at the Bakehouse have agreed to make Corgi Cookies all month long to support the Jump Up! That’s right, super good, exceptionally tasty sugar cookies that are decorated to look like Jelly Bean! Handmade fondant on top of all-butter, real vanilla-and-a hint-of-citrus-zest sugar cookies. They have been pretty much immediately and universally hailed as “the cutest cookies in the county.” And, the Bakeshop is generously donating $1 from each cookie to the Jelly Bean Jump Up.
The need for SafeHouse Center’s services is, unfortunately, higher than ever. Domestic violence increased dramatically during the years of the pandemic as added tensions, quarantines, and divisive politics led more Americans than ever to act violently against those they lived with. The Jump Up has become a significant fundraiser to help SafeHouse Center support its own financial health. This means that victims of domestic violence in Washtenaw County can have confidence that the place they can always count on to provide shelter and support will stay financially sound.
You can contribute to the Jelly Bean Jump Up cause at all the Zingerman’s businesses throughout February. And, also, all the Plum Markets (they have the Corgi Cookies too!) will be again generously participating in the Jelly Bean Jump Up from March 6 through March 12. You can make a donation directly on the SafeHouse Center website.
Want to make sure we have a Corgi Cookie ready and waiting for you? Give us a call (734-761-2095) to reserve yours.
Love our sugar cookies? We teach you how to make them (and decorate them with fondant and royal icing) in our hands-on baking class, Creative Cookies. Add yourself to the waitlist or keep your eye out for new session on the schedule.
In 1982, Ari Weinzweig, along with his partner Paul Saginaw, founded Zingerman’s Delicatessen with a $20,000 bank loan, a Russian History degree from the University of Michigan, 4 years of experience washing dishes, cooking and managing in restaurant kitchens and chutzpah from his hometown of Chicago. They opened the doors with 2 employees and a small selection of specialty foods and exceptional sandwiches.
Today, Zingerman’s Delicatessen is a nationally renowned food icon and the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses has grown to 10 businesses with over 750 employees and over $55 million in annual revenue. Aside from the Delicatessen, these businesses include Zingerman’s Bakehouse, Coffee Company, Creamery, Roadhouse, Mail Order, ZingTrain, Candy Manufactory, Cornman Farms and a Korean restaurant that is scheduled to open in 2016. No two businesses in the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses are alike but they all share the same Vision and Guiding Principles and deliver “The Zingerman’s Experience” with passion and commitment.
Besides being the Co-Founding Partner and being actively engaged in some aspect of the day-to-day operations and governance of nearly every business in the Zingerman’s Community, Ari Weinzweig is also a prolific writer. His most recent publications are the first 4 of his 6 book series Zingerman’s Guide to Good Leading Series: A Lapsed Anarchist’s Approach to Building a Great Business (Part 1), Being a Better Leader (Part 2), Managing Ourselves (Part 3) and the newly-released Part 4, The Power of Beliefs in Business. Earlier books include the Zingerman’s Guides to Giving Great Service, Better Bacon, Good Eating, Good Olive Oil, Good Vinegar and Good Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Ari regularly travels across the country (and world) on behalf of ZingTrain, teaching organizations and businesses about Zingerman’s approach to business. He is a sought-after Keynote speaker, having delivered keynotes for Inc. 500, Microsoft Expo Spring Conference, Great Game of Business Gathering of Games, Positive Business Conference at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, American Society for Quality (ASQ), and the American Cheese Society. Most recently, Ari and Paul Saginaw were invited to address an audience of 50,000 for the University of Michigan 2015 Spring Commencement.
One of Zingerman’s Guiding Principles is being an active part of the community and in 1988, Zingerman’s was instrumental in the founding of Food Gatherers, a food rescue program that delivers over 5 million pounds of food each year to the hungry residents of Washtenaw county. Every year Zingerman’s donates 10% of its previous years profits to local community organizations and non-profits. Ari has served on the board of The Ark, the longest continuously operating folk music venue in America.
Over the decades, the Zingerman’s founding partners have consistently been the recipients of public recognition from a variety of diverse organizations. In April 1995, Ari and Paul were awarded the Jewish Federation of Washtenaw County’s first Humanitarian Award. In 2006, Ari was recognized as one of the “Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America” by the James Beard Foundation. In 2007, Ari and Paul were presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award from Bon Appetit magazine for their work in the food industry. Ari was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Cheese Society in 2014. And Ari’s book, Building a Great Business was on Inc. magazine’s list of Best Books for Business Leaders.
Notwithstanding the awards, being engaged on a daily basis in the work of 10 businesses and 21 partners, writing books on business and in-depth articles on food for the Zingerman’s newsletter, Ari finds time to be a voracious reader. He acquires and reads more books than he can find room for. Ari might soon find himself the owner of the largest collection of Anarchist books in Ann Arbor outside the Labadie collection at the University of Michigan library!
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