Women's History Month

It’s Women’s History Month and we are partnering with the extraordinary women of Mary’s Place, a local shelter and resource center, to honor them and the work they do in our community - and to help raise money for them to continue their amazing support services for women and families in Seattle.

We reached out to Mary’s Place earlier this year and had their team nominate four women within their organization so that we could work with them to create flavors in their honor! These four women are each so special and have all been such an important part of the Mary’s Place story. Read about the women below and see the flavor they helped us create. 10% of all proceeds of seasonal flavors this month will be donated to Mary’s Place.

Rev. Dr. Jean Kim, Founder of Mary’s Place - Orchid Vanilla

Rev. Dr. Jean Kim, also known as the "Mother to the Homeless," spent 50 years serving people who are unsheltered. She spent years in poverty and homelessness while witnessing her home and culture's devastation throughout the Korean War.

Rev. Dr. Kim worked for ten years at Harborview's mental health clinic helping women fleeing domestic violence. With this experience, she created her first mission. When Rev. Kim started the Church of Mary Magdalene, it became a non-denominational spiritual place for women experiencing homelessness to feel safe without the threat of male violence. Eventually, the Church of Mary Magdalene became the weekly day program and family shelter provider, Mary’s Place.

Rev. Dr Kim’s dream ice cream flavor is Vanilla and when asked what other things represent her, she told us light purple orchids. We made a flavor called Orchid Vanilla - a vanilla bean flavor colored purple with butterfly pea powder making the perfect lavender hue!

Tanita Horton, Mary's Place Shelter & Services Manager & Girl Scout Troop leader - Raspberry Oat Bar

Motherhood drove Tanita’s passion for helping children. For the last 14 years, she works during the day as the office manager for a Renton elementary school. She is determined to ensure that children who come from marginalized and disadvantaged situations still have access to a quality education, enriching opportunities, and caring adults. Tanita has worked the evening shift at Mary’s Place over five years.

Six weeks into the job, the staff started talking about starting a Girl Scout troop and before long, Troop #40103 became the first shelter-based troop in the region.

Tanita became a Girl Scout when she was seven years old until she graduated from high school, and loved it. Her mother, and biggest supporter, was her troop leader! Girl Scouts taught her life lessons, exposed her to new adventures, and was where she forged lifelong friendships. She became the Mary's Place troop leader, enlisting her mom and daughters to help, to ensure girls in shelter had the same opportunities as other Scouts do. We work with Tanita each year to help send this Mary’s Place troop to Summer camp!

When we asked Tanita what some of her favorite treats were, raspberry oat bars were at the top of her list! We created this raspberry oat bar flavor is packed full of sweet, oat-y crumbles (dotted with gems of raspberries and just a hint of candied ginger). It is filled with generous swirls of bright pink raspberry jam.

Tanya Rinker – former Mary's Place guest - Vegan Candy Bar

Tanya wasn’t always struggling. She had loving parents; she graduated from high school, and went to college. She met a man, had two beautiful children, but fell victim to domestic violence that took all of her. She fell into a state of depression so bad that she turned to drugs, which left her homeless and adrift. She almost lost her three-year battle with heroin on multiple occasions, while her parents raised her kids. She was lost in addiction with nowhere to go, but when she discovered she was pregnant, she checked herself into treatment. Tanya searched for a home for her new family - no easy task with an infant during this pandemic! But she didn’t give up and today, Tanya is in her own home with all three of her children again, where she has the love and support of her parents, and is genuinely happy.

When we asked Tanya about her favorite flavors and treats, almost all of her answers involved classic candy bars! We decided to make a fun vegan candy bar flavor! This flavor has the nutty, gooey, crunchy elements of the candy bar, while staying nut-free. It’s filled with crunchy vegan toffee pieces coated with chocolate and a rich vegan caramel swirl. The coconut base adds a depth and slightly nutty flavor that truly tastes like candy!

Sherry Tillman, Mary's Place Intake Line Manager - Milk Chocolate Toffee

Sherry always had a dream to work with families experiencing homelessness and to give back to the community. No matter what she was doing, she always wanted to make someone's day better!

Almost 3-1/2 years ago, Sherry joined the team at Mary's Place because she knew what it was like to have to call a shelter for help and to leave feeling discouraged and hopeless because they couldn't help her. Her experience drove her desire to be the first line of contact for families who call Mary's Place for shelter, to comfort the person on the other end of the phone line so that the family feels safe to ask for help.

Working at Mary's Place, Sherry is that first line of contact. She gets to see the support Mary's Place staff provides when families arrive at shelter, still unsure and scared, not knowing if they will receive the help they need, and later on to see these same families leave with a home, job, and their confidence back.

Sherry told us her dream ice cream flavors included, chocolate, caramel and almond roca - so we combined all of those things to make our Milk Chocolate Toffee flavor! We make our crunchy, salty toffee pieces and coat them in Theo dark chocolate, before adding handfuls of them to each tub of our creamy milk chocolate ice cream!