WSU’s Cookie Club does not only focus on baking — the club members also work to emphasize mental health. 

“Our goals are to introduce self-care and destressing through baking,” Cookie Club President Eric Campbell said.

Vice President Antonio Bak said they meet at 6 p.m. every Wednesday in the Compton Union Building, Room 206, but they hope to change their location to The Spark: Academic Innovation Hub next semester.

Bak said there is a membership fee of $10 for the entire semester.

“[Campbell] was my mentee in the Emerging Leaders program, and we had this project where we had to come up with a poster,” he said. “We came up with the idea of a cookie club because it demonstrates leadership.”

Campbell said they have 25 members so far and are six weeks into the club.

“Growing up I spent a lot of time with my great-grandmother, and she taught me how to cook and bake along with my mom,” he said. “She always wanted me to be a baker, and so my whole childhood I wanted to own a bakery.”

Campbell said his great-grandmother passed away thinking that baking was what he was going to pursue in his life, so for him, the club made up for it.

Bak said the club hopes to partner with Northside Cafe and Residential Education Directors to have baking nights and self-care lectures in residence halls.

“We are essentially trying to set up events for next semester, so we come back strong next year,” he said.

Bak said they want to collaborate with other organizations in the future to discuss ways on how to deal with mental health. They plan to sell baked goods at the annual Palouse Area Garage Sale, he said.

“At the moment, we are really narrowing down who we are and what we stand for,” Campbell said.

The club has plans on hosting activities like “Pie A Coug,” he said, where students pay to vote for a faculty member or professor they want to see get pied.

“Next semester, we are working on a […] barbeque for Dad’s Weekend with bison and veal burgers,” Campbell said.

Bak said they also want to host an activity called “Cookies and Ramen,” where they teach four ways to make instant ramen healthier.

“There is a huge need in the WSU community for ways to improve your mental health,” Campbell said. “We want to be portrayed as more than just a cookie club — a club that strives to help students with their mental health by providing stress-relief activities.”

The subhead has been updated to reflect the correct person who pursued the cookie club.