Kolache Factory Awarded Prestigious Honor by Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
HOUSTON, Tx. – (August 7, 2018) – Houston-based Kolache Factory and its Chief Operating Officer Dawn Nielsen have earned top awards from the Texas Gulf Coast chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) for contributions and dedication to fighting blood cancer. Over the past decade, the bakery-café franchise has raised close to half a million dollars for the organization. It’s a personal crusade for Nielsen, who lost her grandmother to multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer, and her mom to lung and brain cancer.
Nielsen won the Chairman’s Special Recognition Award. The Kolache Factory, the unique bakery-café franchise Nielsen’s parents founded, was awarded the Partners Against Blood Cancer Silver Level Award. The awards were presented at the chapter’s 2018 Light The Night Kick-Off before family, friends and dozens of Houston-based corporate sponsors.
“I am honored and humbled to receive these awards in honor of two beloved women who I lost,” says Nielsen, who has worked at the Kolache Factory since her parents started it with one Houston store back in 1982. “I miss my mother and grandmother’s guidance and love and only wish I could have done more while they were still here. I urge people to give because donations go to fund blood cancer research and treatments for patients who are suffering from all forms of blood cancer.”
This is the Kolache Factory’s thirteenth year of involvement with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, raising 460 thousand dollars with hopes of raising half a million dollars by year’s end. The company contributes by asking customers and employees to donate. Plus, it sponsors the group’s annual Light The Night Walk, a glowing tribute with a festival and a walk with lanterns, to honor patients, survivors and those who have died from blood cancer.
“Dawn is passionate and dedicated and has been instrumental to our growth over the past decade,” says Ashlee Valavala, senior campaign manager of the Texas Gulf Coast chapter of the LLS. “With her personal and corporate contributions, she has taken the darkest moments of her family’s life and brought light to all the patients who struggle with and survive this disease.”
The awards were presented August 9 at the Light The Night Kick Off event at the Royal Sonesta Hotel at 2222 West Loop South in Houston.
About the Kolache Factory
Kolache Factory was founded in 1982 in Houston, Texas, by John and Jerri Banks, who identified a need for a fresh, high-quality breakfast that could be eaten “on the run.” The Banks’ encouraged consumers to try the high-quality, fresh pastries filled with fruits, meat and cheeses and soon they were in high demand for business meetings, family breakfasts, on-the-go lunches and afternoon snacks. Kolache Factory has been recognized as one of the Top 5 Drive-Thrus in America by Food Network, one of the fastest growing companies in Houston and one of the top 50 food service bakeries in the United States by Modern Baking magazine. In addition, Franchise Times magazine recently named Kolache Factory one of the 300 biggest brands in franchising by worldwide sales in 2017. In addition, Entrepreneur magazine named it among the top 200 food-based franchises in 2017. Kolache Factory is privately owned and operated and headquartered in Katy, Texas. For more information please visit http://www.kolachefactory.com.