Business & Tech

Cupcake Sales Help Keep Ill Kids Warm

CocoBeni Confections and Binkeez for Comfort have teamed up.

This week, Almond Joy cupcakes from Northborough's CocoBeni Confections are helping children with health issues stay warm.

Through a handmade blanket made by Binkeez for Comfort, a local non-profit organization.

Since Monday, a portion of the sales of each Almond Joy cupcake has been donated to Binkeez for Comfort, CocoBeni owner Mary Beth Benison says. CocoBeni also is donating a portion of the proceeds when someone buys a dozen cupcakes.

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CocoBeni will change the featured cupcake -- each with a special motto tied to the campaign -- each week, Benison says. The cupcakes sell for $2.99.

"I love the idea that we'll be able to do something that will allow us to contribute to such a meaningful cause," Benison says.

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Bension said Binkeez Founder Susan Posterro approached her with the idea a few months ago.

They had met at Northborough's Epiphany Children's Boutique a few years ago, before CocoBeni opened at 247A West Main St., she says.

"We said when we were both up and running, we would want to collaborate in some shape or form to help each other: women in small business, and also a good cause," Benison says.

Posterro says she and her mother, Lynne, started a baby blanket business in 1999.

The 44 by 44 cotton flannel blankets were known as Binkeez, she says, and were sold online, with the proceeds supporting the UMass Memorial Neo-Natal Unit, Posterro says.

"I was brought up by a woman who instilled in me the need to give forward to others in need," she says.

The business became a 501c3 nonprofit last year after Posterro realized "that I had the gift of good health, and I needed to do something with that along with my professional background and my non-profit background."

Binkeez now supports all kids "experiencing health issues, particularly children in hospitals and hospice facilities" in the U.S., according to its website.

"In 2013, we gave forward 1,052 blankets and 48 states," Posterro says.

The blankets are handmade with fabric only purchased from three wholesalers that have certified that it is lead-free and that is independently tested to ensure compliance with all Consumer Safety Act laws, she says.

All fabric is stored and cut at Craftworks, across the shopping plaza from CocoBeni, and where some of the blankets are sewn, she says.

"We could not do what we've done without our space here," Posterro says.


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