They call this Lexington associate principal ‘the cookie man’

People call Leon Buford-Kelly, the associate principal at Leestown Middle School, “The Cookie Man.”

It’s not just because he gives the cookies he bakes to students for good work or that he donates his cookies for school fundraisers.

Buford-Kelly started a company called BK’s Cookies in the summer of 2020 during the Covid pandemic at his home because he couldn’t cater events anymore.

His late fiancee told him, “Don’t let Covid stop you from feeding people with your gift.”

Buford-Kelly’s website offers traditional flavors, but also funnel cake cookies, peach cobbler cookies, bourbon toffee chocolate chip cookies and doughnut cookies.

He says he rents out kitchen space at Southland Bagel, sells his cookies at some retail locations including Total Wine and has started a fundraising effort to open a Bk’s Cookies & More Store. He wants to raise between $30,000 and $50,000 for a building, equipment and supplies.

In addition to cookies, he hopes to offer cookie butter, cookie brittle, cookie cakes, cookie milkshakes, cookie ice cream sandwiches and frozen cookies through the store.

At school, he said, “the kids definitely know my cookies.”

“As a reward, I give the kids cookies for doing a great job academically, doing a great job socially, being kind to another kid when I see it,” Buford-Kelly said.

Buford-Kelly said he has a staff of two and works on the cookie business after school and on weekends. He sells 1,200 cookies every three weeks and has new cookies every season.

“I try to shake up the taste buds,” said Buford-Kelly. “I reimagine cookies.”

This story was originally published May 18, 2024 at 1:51 PM.