VICTORY IS SWEET

WOMAN WITH DOWN SYNDROME: Baking enthusiast Collette Divitto turned rejection into the inspiration for her own cookie company

In Touch talks with Collette Divitto, a pro baker out to prove that nothing should stop you from achieving your dreams

All Collette Divitto wanted was a paying job. For years, the bubbly 26-yearold, who was born with Down syndrome, worked as an unpaid intern doing everything from office filing to assisting a pre-k teacher to cleaning kitchens for businesses in the food-prep industry. She always hoped the internships would lead to more. But after every interview, her mom, Rosemary Alfredo, tells In Touch, “she was always told she was ‘not a good fit’ for the paying positions.” Adds Collette: “It was really upsetting.”

So she took matters into her own hands. In a remarkable story of perseverance, Collette, who developed a passion for baking after her mom taught her the basics in 2011, decided that if no one else would hire her, she’d hire herself. Working out of the kitchen in her family’s Boston home, she started whipping up batches of a sweet treat she’s dubbed “The Amazing Cookie” — chocolate chip, with a dusting of cinnamon — and Collettey’s Cookies was born (Collettey is her nickname). “It’s really hard for people with disabilities to find paid jobs,” Collette tells In Touch. “I wanted to prove I was very capable of having this company.”

Friends and family — and soon, the public — clamored for the delicious dessert. Boston’s Golden Goose Market and a restaurant in Ridgefield, Conn., were among Collette’s first customers. Then, after the local CBS affiliate aired a story spotlighting her business in November 2016, the orders came pouring in to her website, colletteys.com. “It just went nuts,” mom Rosemary marvels. Collette has received orders for more than 25,000 cookies around the country. “I haven’t slept at all,” she says.

As Collette’s business has grown, so have her ambitions. She’s adding a “Healthy Breakfast Cookie,” made with oats, almonds and Craisins, to her menu. But the

point, she says, goes well beyond turning a profit. “I want to see my company expand, and I want to give other disabled people opportunities,” she tells In Touch, explaining that her greatest wish is for Collettey’s Cookies to go national so she can employ people with disabilities in every state to bake and sell the treats, which go for $28.95 a dozen. To that end, Collette is trying to raise money through Gofundme (gofundme.com/ colletteys-cookies) to build her business and help others. Collette’s greatest gift? A simple lesson: “Never,” she says, “give up on your dream.” — Reporting

by John Blosser