DAYTON, IN — This town houses its fair share of small businesses, but perhaps none whose influence spreads as far as that of Combat Cookies.
Veteran Brandi Bass and her husband, Brandon, who still serves in the military, created this business in 2018 so that families could more easily send their loved ones actively serving around the world homemade cookies that provide a sense of home.
“At the time (Brandi’s sister) had a toddler, so she was always giving me stories about him, and the funny things that he would say … it was the humor in those stories about her son that really lifted the spirits,” said Brandi, who remembers the letters her sister would write her when she served. Those letters caused her to laugh and feel less homesick.
The personal touches make this family-owned cookie store so unusual.
Directly to the right of the front entrance is a copper brick walkway. But these bricks are not just for stepping on; they are for admiring. Scattered throughout the stones are messages, either from sponsors or from Gold Star Families, those whose family members died in combat.
At the end of the pathway, five veterans are specially honored on a sign with their photos and where they served.
One of these veterans is Cpl. Cody Putman.
“His parents and my parents were friends and then him and his siblings would come over, and we would all play together when we were little kids,” said Brandi, who was a family friend before they both joined the military.
Putman, from Lafayette and Twin Lakes, died in 2007 in Iraq from an explosive placed by a suicide bomber. His mother, Pam Mow, is now Combat Cookies’ treasurer.
To honor the memory of Putman and all that he sacrificed, the Basses dedicated their best-selling cookie to their childhood friend.
“The way you honor a person is to continually say their name,” said Brandi, who incorporated Putman’s favorite cookie, Oreos, into the dough to make sure that Putman would have loved this honorary dessert as much as the store’s customers.
Coined the “Cody Cookie,” the chocolate chip cookie base incorporates crushed Oreos to create an even more decadent dessert.
The “Cody Cookie” is just one of their military-inspired named cookies. Others include their “Sniperdoodle,” a snickerdoodle cookie, and the “K9 Cookie,” a peanut butter-flavored dog biscuit.
These in-store-baked cookies create a sense of warmth in the lobby, decorated with a military-inspired theme. A framed American flag and silhouette of a saluting soldier hang on a wall as wooden boxes holding combat boots and helmets lie below them.
This feeling of warmth is then shipped to military bases around the world.
“I think cookies bring joy because a majority of people love sugar,” said Brandi, who decided to sell cookies because they were less messy to package then cakes and cupcakes.
For no cost, Combat Cookies sends a box of homemade cookies to military members. The preparation and shipping are paid for by the money the store brings in on Saturdays, the only consistent day of the week they are open.
Donations are also accepted. The store takes suggested names of current service members and adds them to a waitlist until patrons donate enough to afford the shipment. About five people are currently on the waitlist; a couple of donors sponsor a box every month.
On a recent Saturday, a sign near the register asks for donations for the Basses to raise money to keep the building they’ve been renting. In another four years, when their contract is up, they’d like to have the $200,000 to buy it from the current owner.
Veterans can enjoy free cookies on Veterans Day; on Memorial Day, everyone can have a free Cody Cookie.
“I know how difficult it is to be deployed and overseas and away from your family, friends and all the comforts of home,” Brandi said, “so I wanted to do something to boost their morale while they were overseas serving us.”
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Combat Cookies spreads happiness to those serving far from home
Reporting by Ava Westendorf, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
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