Uncle Charlie’s ministry hits milestone
When home-schooled eighth-grader Bitty Dietz had to give a speech on someone she admired the most, she chose a cousin whom she had never met until recently, who for the past decade has used his faith to bring joy into people’s lives.
And cookies. Lots of cookies.
Charlie Kellenberger has battled through numerous infirmities with faith and a sense of humor, and has brought many others who may be in a down time a little happiness with some fresh-baked goodness.
Uncle Charlie’s Cookie Ministry was the idea of a man who has a deep-rooted desire from God to help others, and it is summed up with his own scripture.
“Love your neighbor, and give them a cookie.”
Kellenberger does it with a couple small ovens from his home at Buccaneer Estates and with the help of recycling and the generosity of others, who donate whatever he needs, whether it’s sugar, flour or a new oven when he burns one out through use.
This week, Kellenberger will have baked his 500,000th cookie, and the next cookie he sells will be his first. He bakes out of love for anyone who needs them, from soup kitchens to that guy down the street who’s having a bad day.
“I’ve never counted how many people I’ve helped. I always have the door open and a tray of cookies out so people can ask what’s baking,” Kellenberger said. “I tell them ‘It’s on the table, help yourself.'”
Kellenberger’s faith has been put to the test more than once. He had congestive heart failure in 1997 and suffered a heart attack in 2000 which resulted in quintuple bypass surgery.
He had his left leg amputated a year later and had to have another section removed a year after that following a fall.
He has also blown his meniscus in his left knee, nearly died when blood clots were found in his lungs, and in 2011 developed stage 4 prostate cancer nearly a decade after his wife of 51 years, Ingrid, survived breast cancer.
“It’s the story of a life in a wheelchair, but it’s a nice one. I didn’t want to become despondent, and I was always a giver,” Kellenberger said. “So I kept giving.”
Kellenberger, a Vietnam veteran, believes the Lord allowed him to survive for a reason, and following Hurricane Charley in 2004, he found it.
His home somehow survived with little damage. Others weren’t so lucky, and since Kellenberger liked to bake, he made cookies to take to first responders and those in need. The ministry was born, which is a little ironic considering he ran health food stores for many years in Illinois and Cape Coral.
“I didn’t want Charley to get a bad name. They retired Charley after the hurricane,” Kellenberger laughed.
With little money, he began to collect aluminum cans to recycle to pay his expenses (all his cookies are made from scratch), and has seen the kindness of others returned to him, with many people donating their cans to him.
Others have also left bags of flour at his door, and people have donated large convection ovens, cookie sheets and electric mixers to him so he can make more cookies.
Kellenberger, who can bake as many as 900 cookies in a single day, has made more than 200 varieties of cookies, but focuses on about 40 that he can turn around quickly. He rarely makes cookies with nuts, as they’re too expensive.
On this day, it was chocolate chip. He made peanut butter cookies for the Tony Page memorial, as well as cranberry pillow cookies for a Thanksgiving theme.
Doreen King, a neighbor and best friend, said Kellenberger never fails to amaze her with his love.
“He’s an amazing man. I have spoken to so many people about him. It’s a pleasure for me to get people to know him personally,” King said. “I’ve never been in Charlie’s company where he hasn’t made people change their lives. He’s such a positive person. We need more people like him.”
His generosity extends to those at his community. Kellenberger brings a batch of cookies to his chair volleyball league that meets three times a week, who always say the latest batch is the best he’s ever made.
“They don’t know they’re my guinea pigs. They’re always my new recipes,” Kellenberger said. “Ingrid used to do that and told me to stop it and get someone else to be the recipe tester.”
Kellenberger said he plans to continue the ministry until God has a new plan for him. After all this time, he said he gets more joy from this than they for him.
“I’m the one who’s blessed. I’m probably getting those I help fat,” Kellenberger said.