Oak Street Station

Liam, Blake, Nora, Evan, Ayda and Reece Vander Zee.

Blake helps put the stickers on the wrapped sandwiches and bakes a little. Meredith predicted he’ll be the director of sales and marketing one day. Blake was also managing their booth at the Lyon County Fair this summer when the health inspector stopped by. He showed the inspector their food handling and safety procedures and signed off on the paperwork on behalf of the company. Joe said, “Everybody takes a turn at the fair booth. Not only do we sell our treats, but we meet people and share our story. There’s a lot of good fellowship and networking that can happen at the fair.”

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2403 US Highway 18 Inwood IA 51240 Nora listed off the ice cream flavors they use … chocolate, vanilla, mint chocolate chip, strawberry, salted caramel, and cookies and cream. Ayda said the cookies they bake are monster, chocolate chip, snickerdoodle and chocolate. Reece said the best-selling sandwiches are the monster cookie with vanilla ice cream and the snickerdoodle with salted caramel ice cream.

Carroll Street Treats sells its product through 14 retail partners, including several local convenience stores and restaurants plus Sunshine grocery stores in Rock Rapids, Rock Valley and Luverne. Shari’s Kitchen food truck sells the treats. They’ve sold treats for weddings and for employer-sponsored staff events. The treats were available at the canteen at Inspiration Hills Church Camp and were sold at Risefest at the Rosie’s Boutique/Touch of Hope Ministries booth.

Touch of Hope Ministries, which promotes economic sustainability and helps build homes in a village in Haiti, is one of the charitable causes the Vander Zee children have supported. Reece said their “Pay It Forward” donations have also helped fund local playground improvements; basketball hoops at daycares; summer camp fees; Vacation Bible School; and school lunches. About 14 percent of the company’s gross sales are given to worthy projects or organizations in the community such as Vacation Bible School and paying for school lunches for those in need.

“Something we try to instill in the kids is that we can share the Gospel, regardless of what we're doing,” Joe said. “We really intended for this to be a purposeful ministry. We've been blessed beyond measure and we can be good stewards of his resources – not just with our money but also with our talents and our time. Hopefully it shows not only by the gifts that we give, but also in how we treat our customers and how we treat our suppliers. We think business can be a great avenue for the Gospel. We're trying to show the kids what a Christian business looks like.”

Meredith added, “When you truly serve and surrender your finances to Him, then He does create an abundance that we would have never expected. Where we are now is not something that ever would have crossed our radar five, six, seven years ago.”