THE STOREFRONT IS ENDING. AWESOME BITES DOESN'T HAVE TO.

An allergy-safe Houston shouldn't end with it. $27 by the 27th help build what's next!

After 11 years of serving Houston in person, our storefront is closing on September 27.

This isn't an emergency campaign to rescue a lease. That decision is made. Rent and overhead in a single building just don't make sense in a city as huge as Houston.

The question I'm asking now is simpler, and harder: Does Awesome Bites still have a place in your life?

If it does, let's build what comes next together.

IT STARTED WITH A CAKE I COULDN'T BUY.

Twelve years ago, around my daughter Aurora's first birthday, I went looking for a cake she could safely eat with severe food allergies.

I couldn't find one anywhere.

So I bought a mixer.

There was just one small problem: I didn't know how to bake.

I learned. I experimented. I made a truly impressive number of terrible things before I made good ones.

In 2015, that became Awesome Bites - farmer’s market tent full of Super Muffins and by 2019: an entirely allergy safe space where any kid could walk in, point to anything in the case, and hear yes.

If you've never watched an allergy kid get handed a menu and slowly realize the entire thing was made for them, I can't quite describe it.

Not the one safe thing. Anything.

Aurora eventually outgrew her allergies. By some combination of love, magic and miracles.

But by then, Awesome Bites wasn't about her anymore.

It was about everybody else's Auroras.

WHY WE'RE CHANGING THE MODEL

For a decade, the number one thing I've heard is: "I wish you were closer to us."

Houston is enormous. A single storefront is always too far for someone. There is no address that fixes this.

So instead of guessing where to open another expensive shop, we're flipping the question. Not where should Awesome Bites be, but where are the fans who want it?

Here's how it works. We announce a menu and a neighborhood. You order what you actually want. If enough families in your area order, we bake the exact count and bring it to a local pickup spot near you.

Nothing baked on a guess. Nothing thrown away at close. No rent on a building that's only convenient to whoever lives nearby.

And if that works, it keeps going; neighborhood pop ups become monthly, then subscriptions and direct delivery for the families who depend on staples, then a few carefully chosen items on regional shelves, and eventually a dedicated allergy free kitchen of our own.

Do I know that works?

In theory.

But that's exactly what I want to find out.

ELEVEN YEARS IN, I'M ASKING FOR HELP.

This is the hard part.

Asking for help doesn't come naturally to me. My default for 11 years has been: Fine, I'll figure it out myself.

But I can't figure this one out alone, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise.

So I'm asking. Not only for money, though we need that too.

I'm asking you to be part of the solution.

I want to know whether this community wants safer, better, yummier treats badly enough to help design a sustainable way to keep making them.

There are still thousands of Auroras in this city, and their parents are standing in a grocery aisle right now reading labels and coming up empty, exactly like I was twelve years ago.

THIS FUNDRAISER HAS TWO JOBS

First, it funds the bridge: kitchen rental, certified safe ingredients, packaging, and an effortless preorder site.

Second, your contribution is literally a vote. When you give, you'll answer three quick questions: your ZIP code, what you want us to bake first, and how you want us to deliver.

Your answers decide where the first neighborhood pop up goes. I'm not being cute about that. I genuinely don't know yet, and you're the ones who do.

WAYS TO BE A PART OF THIS

$11 - The Vote

One dollar for every year we've served Houston. Your three answers go into the map that decides where we show up first.

$27 - The Neighbor

The number that keeps the yes. If 100 families give $27 before our doors close September 27, the we'll be able to run a small Fall pop-ups. Your name goes on the Neighbors list, and you'll get the announcement of the first location before it's public.

$111 - First in Line

Eleven dollars for eleven years, times ten. Exactly what it sounds like: you get every pop-up preorder before it opens to the public. They will sell out. This is how you don't miss one.

$500 - Pop-up Sponsor

Everything above, plus you can put your neighborhood forward as an early pop-up location, and your name goes on the wall of the future kitchen.

$5,000+ - Founding Partner

For companies, family foundations, and local advocates ready to help. Partners at this level receive prominent, dedicated feature posts across all Awesome Bites social channels, reaching a devoted Houston community of families who have followed us for over a decade. We also welcome custom collaborations, including hosting an exclusive pop-up at your business. Reach out directly to partner with us.

And if you can't give anything, SHARE this. A share from someone who loves us is worth more than any ad I could afford. Send it to the allergy parent you know. They'll understand immediately.

ONE MORE THING

If you've been with us for years, leave a comment and tell me why. What you'll miss. What your kid always ordered. Who you were buying for.

I'll read every single one, and they'll shape this more than you'd think.

Twelve years ago, I couldn't buy my daughter a birthday cake.

Eleven years ago, that problem became Awesome Bites.

The storefront model is ending. Awesome Bites doesn't have to.

If you want safe, delicious treats to stay in Houston, help us build what's next.

→ $27 by the 27th

If you have four minutes, I want to tell you myself why I’m asking for your help.

Jennifer

eat better. share more. be awesome. www.awesomebitesco.com

The storefront ends. Awesome bites doesn't have to.

An allergy-safe Houston shouldn't end either. Help us build what comes next.