RUTLAND — 11-year-old Kyle Bjorklund has taken the concept of cooking up and choreographing a sweet gesture to a whole new, literal level.
During the last two townwide yard sales, the Central Tree Middle School sixth-grader baked and sold dozens of chocolate chip cookies, having learned how to make cookies by watching baking shows during the COVID-19 pandemic. But he decided to go a step further and raise funds for good causes.
The first time, Kyle donated a portion of his cookie sales to Color the Spectrum, a livestream event hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and former NASA engineer and YouTube Creator Mark Rober to raise money to support NEXT for AUTISM; last year’s beneficiary was UNICEF’s Children of Ukraine fund.
“During 2020 and 2021, we watched quite a bit of videos and shows with Mark Rober. He had a drive to raise money for autism, and I wanted to contribute as well. Last year I heard about the invasion of Ukraine, and I decided I wanted to help out the children in that country by donating to UNICEF’s Children of Ukraine fund,” Kyle said.
This year the young humanitarian is back at it and will donate a portion of his sales to the Rutland Lions Club in memory and honor of late friend and neighbor Ron Marsh, a beloved member of the community who passed away in January at age 77.
Born in Holden and raised in Rutland, Ronald C. Marsh graduated from Wachusett Regional High School and was a devoted husband, father, and faithful member of the First Congregational Church in town. He earned the distinguished Eagle Scout Award as a Boy Scout and worked as a Scoutmaster for 10 years, mentoring many Rutland Scouts in Troop 141.
Ron was a member of the Rutland Lions Club for many years, two of those as president, and received the Melvin Jones Award, the Lions International highest award, and the Joseph J. Camarda Fellowship Award and District 33A Award during his time with the club.
His obituary recorded that Ron was a respected, well-known “figure in the community, one who was overwhelmingly generous with his time.”
Ron is deeply missed by his wife of 55 years, Elaine, and many family members including his son, Stephen, three sisters, nieces and nephews, four grandchildren who affectionately called him ‘Bumpy,’ as well as friends, neighbors, and the large circle of those who knew and loved him, including the Bjorklunds, who have lived in town since August 2016.
“Ron was a really good friend and neighbor and helped a lot of people in his lifetime,” Kyle said.
Kyle’s dad Brian Bjorklund posted a photo of his son mixing cookie batter on the Wachu-Chat Facebook page Sunday that has garnered hundreds of reactions and dozens of comments.
“Awesome stuff Kyle. You are an epic human,” one man wrote; another penned “Kyle you’re amazing! What a wonderful way to honor a friend. No question if Mr. Marsh is smiling down on you.”
“The response on social media has been incredible thus far. So many people have already donated money via Venmo without any expectation of getting cookies,” Brian said. “People remember Kyle’s cookies from the past two Rutland townwide yard sales. Not to mention, Ron Marsh had such an immense impact on the community and was loved by everyone. What better way to honor someone who acted the way Ron did than to make a donation in his name that was truly collected from the people he had such a profound impact on. Ron’s commitment to his community was astounding. He would give the shirt off his back to help a complete stranger. We need more people like him in this world.”
Kyle has been busy prepping over the last two weeks to make 300 cookies by mixing ingredients, rolling dough balls and freezing them ahead of spending a few hours after school on Friday baking.
“I enjoy thinking about how the cookies make the people eating them happy,” he shared.
Brian said he and his wife, Christine, Kyle’s mom, “haven’t needed to give Kyle much assistance when it comes to the actual cookies, with the exception of buying the ingredients. We just help get the word out.”
“Growing up I was taught that giving back to others is incredibly important, and we’ve tried to instill that same mentality in Kyle,” Brian said. “It makes me so proud to see how great of a kid he’s turned out to be.”
Kyle’s homemade cookies will be on hand to enjoy beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 29, in front of his home at 22 Cheryl Ann Drive. Cookies are $.75 each and will be available until they are gone. To donate to Kyle’s fundraising efforts without purchasing cookies, they can Venmo Brian at @brian-bjorklund-2.
“It makes me feel good knowing that I live in a great community,” Kyle said.
