NORTHPORT —  Nearly everyone can agree cookies are mouthwatering delicious. Pair a delicious cookie with a donation to charitable causes working to address human right injustices and environmental concerns and a winning combination may have been formed. 

That is, essentially, what Northport resident Cam Anderson is working to prove through his endeavor dubbed the Belfast Cookie Company. 

A 2019 graduate of Vermont’s The Putney School, Anderson recently completed a gap year that included weeding strawberry and raspberry patches during the summer for Daisy Chain Farm in Belfast, serving as an intern for U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, of Colorado, in the fall and taking introductory Spanish classes at Colorado College in the winter.

The foreign language classes were preparation for a trip Anderson had planned to take to Ecuador to work at a surf hostel for the summer though the pandemic forced him to alter his plans, resulting in him returning to the Midcoast to partake in free OpenCourseWare courses in rhetoric and psychology.  

His motivation for launching the Belfast Cookie Company came after receiving an email detailing a brother-sister duo that launched a bagel delivery business in North Carolina that donates profits to charity. 

“This is an incredible concept which I’m working hard to make work in Belfast and Northport,” Anderson said. “I made the choice to change the product from bagels to cookies, because several other businesses have had success with cookies, while I haven’t been able to find much success with bagel delivery businesses. Cookies are a universally popular food and they are easy to make, while bagels are trickier to make — they need to be both boiled and baked — and aren’t as popular as cookies.”

Though the North Carolina sibling duo delivers product via bicycle, Anderson will be using his car to deliver cookies since, as he noted, delivering by bicycle would be ineffective in rural Waldo County. 

Anderson, at present, is only delivering to the 04849, 04843, 04856 and 04915 ZIP codes, though he is open to expanding elsewhere depending on community interest. 

Anderson, who will attend Bates College in the fall, notes his cooking is compliant with national health standards, and to comply with COVID-19 regulations he uses a mask, gloves, never directly touches the cookies and will leave orders inside customer’s mailboxes. He uses eggs from chickens raised cage-free in his cookies and will use as many locally sourced ingredients as possible. 

The only flavor currently offered is chocolate chip, though Anderson plans to introduce maple pecan and double chocolate hazelnut June 12. When launching the additional flavors, mix-and-match combinations will be offered. 

The price for a half dozen is $8, while one dozen costs $14. There is a $2 delivery fee, and all cookies are made on the day of delivery. Forms of payment include cash (to be left in the mailbox) and Apple Pay (details available via the order form). 

All profits from the business will be donated to either the Equal Justice Initiative or the Environmental Defense Fund, with customers having the ability to dictate where the profits from their order is donated. 

“I believe that the preservation of our environment and world is one of the greatest challenges that humanity has ever faced, and I believe that fighting systemic racism is one of the greatest challenges that the US faces,” said Anderson. “Although I think that people believe these are both problems that should be approached, I think that they are hesitant to help. Ordering cookies is an approachable way to do this, and it might also lead these people to provide more aid once they have made a small donation once — the ‘foot in the door’ approach.” 

To place an order, click here. The Belfast Cookie Company can be found on Facebook and Instagram. 

Reach George Harvey at sports@penbaypilot.com.