National Cannoli Day is a big day for us here at Golden Cannoli Shells Co. and this year, we wanted to make it special for people outside of the baking industry.  We asked people on facebook and instagram to nominate businesses in the Greater Boston area who should receive fresh filled cannoli in honor of this holiday!  The business nominated should give back the the community in some way, and no business was too big or too small.  We also sent original cannoli chips to three individuals who were doing good in their community as well!  

The Friday before National Cannoli Day, we set out to deliver 1000 combined cannoli to the Gateway Arts Center, Haley House Soup Kitchen, and Spaulding Rehabilitation Center.  Here is some more information on the amazing work these people do!

Our first stop was Gateway Arts in Brookline.  Their beautiful second floor space, was a busy, filled with artists making work.  Gateway Arts provides adults with disabilities a place to practice art making, receive guidance, and assistance in selling the work.  Their storefront is directly below and well stocked with clothing, fine art, sculpture and paper goods.  They've been operating since 1973 (three years after Golden Cannoli got its start) and some of the original artists and staff are still involved.  They have a ceramics studio, paper crafts area, fibers spaces and more.  Their gallery space had an exhibition called All About Cats and Dogs, up now through Aug 29th 2018 that we really enjoyed.  If you find yourself looking for something to do in Brookline, we highly recommend stopping by their store and gallery space and taking some time to look around!  For more information about the work they do click here. 

Since 1966, Haley House Soup kitchen, located in Boston's South End neighborhood, has provided healthy home cooked meals to people in need.  In addition to providing weekly meal services, they host an elder meals every weekend and run a cafe in Dorchester that provides delicious meals at affordable costs.  Their live in volunteers cook in the soup kitchen in exchange for housing.  Haley house also runs cooking classes as part of a program called "take back the kitchen", for youth and families.  It was inspiring hearing their story, and getting to learn more about their organization.  We provided cannoli for the staff and live in residents at haley house, and then stopped by the cafe to drop off cannoli for the staff there.  (We got a little lunch too, and will definitely be going again.)  For more information about Haley House click here.  

Our final stop was Spaulding Rehabilitation Center in Charlestown.  This new facility overlooks Boston harbor and is the hub of the Spaulding Rehabilitation network.  This drop off was a little trickier, but we were excited because we would be delivering 600 cannoli to the staff that man their inpatient floors as well as their administrative offices.  When we entered each floor, after being let into the double doors, we were greeted by enthusiastic employees who knew it was "cannoli time." For more information about Spaulding Rehabilitation, click here.  

As we packed up and got ready to head back to our offices (which are right across the water) our team was overwhelmed and in awe of the amazing people who make this city special.  A big thank you to Gateway Arts, Haley House, and Spaulding Rehab for letting us come visit and taking the time to show us around.   It was a fantastic National Cannoli Day for us, we can't wait to do it again next year!