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Big-hearted baker Jawaher Almoayed has been putting her sweet tooth to good use as she invests a portion of her proceeds into educating women and girls across the kingdom to help provide them with better futures.
The 27-year-old architecture graduate started White Spoon to fulfil her mother Dina Buachale’s dream of owning a bakery while also making a meaningful impact within the community.
Jawaher came up with the 50/50 business model for the charitable venture that supports women and girls in their pursuit for education during her last semester at university and put it into effect in 2017 out of her home in Sanabis.
Her mother, an interior designer, developed the recipes while her team whipped up an array of cookies for the cause.
In September 2018, the cookies concept continued developing and since then she has funded the education of 15 women.
“We sell our baked goods and 50 per cent of our profits go to an educational cause,” said the former Ibn Khuldoon National School student who now lives in Manama.
“I felt that supporting the cause of empowering women through education would have a long lasting positive impact.
“Focusing on education ensures financial independence. Hence, the person who is educated through our contributions today will be self-reliant tomorrow and hopefully also learn to be a responsible social citizen in the future contributing to causes that are dear to them.
“The causes are always women who want to study but are struggling to fund their ambitions.”
Jawaher is currently working on fulfiling 17-year-old Maram’s dream of studying fashion design. She aims to start a part-time job to support herself but still needs all the help she can get.
“I need to mention that I am not doing this alone, White Spoon has such a strong community that supports us,” added Jawaher.
“Establishing the criteria in picking potential applicants is tough because you want to help everyone but that would be impossible. I’ve come to realise that it is more effective to pick applicants that have the potential to help others rather than the applicant that needs the most help - to ensure that the ripple effect is greater.
“That is why one of the questions I ask of applicants is ‘how they will use their education to help someone they know’?
“We choose to support Maram because like the other women we have supported, she is hardworking and ambitious.
“Once we have reached our goal for the cause, we move on to the next. By helping one girl at a time, we think we can slowly help bridge the gender gap that in my opinion negatively affects our society.”
People can support the fundraising project by purchasing cookies, cakes and biscuits made for any occasion from her shop or on Instagram @whitespoon_bh. Her baked goods are also available on an array of delivery platforms.
“The business of doing good is very rewarding,” she added. “Consumers are becoming more and more conscious about their purchases and decisions. They now care more about how the products they use affect the environment, ecology and society.
“Not only that, but from a business owner point of view, I feel like doing good constantly motivates me to do better. I want White Spoon to be the best because it helps people.
“If I stop doing what I do, how will I help these girls? I go to work every day feeling like I have a purpose and a responsibility bigger than myself. So to add the CSR component to any business – first find a cause that is close to your heart and relevant to the present society. Then, create the right kind of awareness amongst your target audiences, involving them to make a bigger impact.”
