Mental Health and Suicide Awareness
Cool Cookies is an 8,888-piece NFT collection centered around mental health and suicide awareness. Accessibility was a priority, and their free mint on March 18th sold out in 20 minutes.
The project’s founder and artist, Stefano, is refreshingly honest and authentic. His emotional story behind Cool Cookies is as inspirational as any.
In 2020, Stefano’s older brother, Derek, passed away from suicide. He was 35 years old, in his last year of law school, and a single parent. Stefano and his cousin BMO created Cool Cookies to honor his life, spread mental health awareness, and advocate for suicide prevention.
Cool Cookies were created with love, family, and childhood memories in mind. Derek grew up in the 80s. The collection’s cute and nostalgic traits focus on 80s pop references that remind Stefano of his brother and the rest of his family. Every trait has a story and was intentionally included.
On 4/12/22, on his late brother’s birthday, Stefano and Cool Cookies made a $10,000 donation to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Derek would’ve been 37 years old.
Stefano
In my opinion, the project’s biggest utility is Stefano’s presence and authentic interest in all of his community members.
In a time when NFT projects require dedicated teams for efficient community management, Stefano remains approachable and present with his community. He seems to genuinely care about each individual and makes time for everyone. It wouldn't surprise me if he was in their Discord’s very active voice chat right now. His deliberate effort to support others has noticeably transferred over to most of the Cool Cookie community.
He also hosts Twitter spaces for the Cool Cookies, where speakers are encouraged to share mental health related stories in a welcoming setting. In the spirit of inclusion and support, Stefano likes to give a Cool Cookie NFT to a random participant during these spaces.
Stefano continues to learn and advocate for suicide prevention. We’re excited to see the amazing things he’ll achieve as Cool Cookies continues to grow.
Utility
Stefano and BMO value transparency and created a Community DAO. All secondary sales are deposited into a community wallet called “The Cookie Jar.” Through this DAO, holders are able to vote on proposals that affect the whole community.
At the time of writing this article, the project’s secondary trade volume has almost reached 150 ETH.
Every Friday, Cool Cookies uses 0.1 ETH from their “Cookie Jar” to purchase NFTs and have weekly giveaways for their holders.
They’re also in the process of launching an off-chain staking marketplace called $CRUMBS which will add more value and utility to holders.
If you’re interested in joining the Cool Cookies Community, please check out their Discord. The Mental Health Collective is looking for positive mental health focused NFT projects (post-mint). Through a partnership, we’ll help expand their mental health support and content for their communities. If you’re interested or know of an ideal NFT project for an MHC partnership, please DM us on Twitter @Web3MHC.
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