Oak Park sisters merge profit, philanthropy

Each Thursday for the last two years, the Preacy family of Oak Park has taken a trip to Lower Wacker Drive in Chicago in order to feed the homeless. The experience affected 12-year-old Amelia Preacy so much that she took the concept of giving back one step further. 

In March, Amelia along with her 7-year-old sister and business partner, Annette, started Peace Baked Goods, an internet-based bakery that sells cupcakes, cookies, brownies, muffins and chocolate-covered pretzels. Prices range from 75 cents (for the pretzels) to $15 for a dozen chocolate or red velvet cupcakes. 

“We decided to do this because I love baking and so does my sister,” said Amelia. “We also decided that a lot of people are hungry or need a home, so we wanted to make giving to people one of our main things but we wanted to make it fun. That’s why we decided to bake.” 

Twenty-five percent of the proceeds from their burgeoning business goes to a good cause. Each month, the sisters select an organization to donate to. The first organization was Feed My Starving Children, an international nonprofit that provides nutritious meals to malnourished children around the world. 

This month, the proceeds will go to a group called The Underground Feeders, or T.U.F. for short. It’s the same group that the Preacy family morphs into each week when it ventures to Lower Wacker Drive on its mission to help the homeless.

“I think that feeding the homeless had something to do with Amelia’s idea for Peace Baked Goods,” said her father, Brian Preacy. “She sees the benefit in helping people. There are a lot of people in need who are very grateful when we give. I think [Amelia and Annette] see the benefit of giving.”

But just because Peace Baked Goods has a charitable component doesn’t mean that it doesn’t need to be profitable. The siblings, both of whom are homeschooled, are doing what many MBA’s can’t even attest to — they’re running their own business. 

“We started off with a loan from our parents to get the supplies and everything,” said Amelia. “The first weekend we put the website up, we got about 15 different orders in one day. So, we had to get the supplies quickly, but we paid our parents back.” 

Amelia said that she and her sister each receive a quarter of the revenue for their labor and another quarter goes to purchase the supplies while the remaining quarter of the proceeds goes to a charity of the sisters’ choice.