Local Bakery Raises $1,500 For Family Of Connor Kasin

MASSAPEQUA, NY — Amid the tragedy of Massapequa High School senior Connor Kasin, who died recently during a charity hockey game, cloaking the community in grief — there was one ray of light in the form of a local bakery.

Emily Rubano, owner of Baked By Emily Rose on Broadway in Massapequa, created special black and white cookies as a tribute and fundraiser for Kasin, turning the tasty treat blue and gold for the school's colors.

On Dec. 5, Rubano's Massapequa shop offered the cookies, with 100 percent of the profits going directly to Kasin's family.

"I'm from Massapequa. I've lived here my entire life," Rubano told Patch. "We're charitable all the time."

But when Kasin died suddenly after collapsing during a charity youth hockey game, "it kind of just felt like a no-brainer to me," she said, who also attended the same high school.

Rubano sold 350 of the blue and gold cookies in six hours.

"Some people were buying dozens at a time," Rubano said. "[Others] had no idea who he was personally, but were in the same sports community and wanted to donate. Everybody came in with a different reason of why they wanted to donate."

There was so much support that the cookies sold out. However, "people were just able to purchase anything they liked and we matched the donations toward the family," she said.

Although Rubano organized this funding opportunity on her own, she said two of Kasin's family members came to her store to buy the cookies.

"[It] was very overwhelming and unexpected," Rubano said.

By the end of the week, Rubano will bring the money, approximately $1,500, to Kasin's family.

"I always want to show face and let them know that everybody's still there for them and everybody really came together for them," she said.