Canada native and Georgetown Cupcake co-founder Katherine Kallinis Berman has joined the ranks of her home country’s neighbors as an American citizen.
On September 25, Berman and hundreds of others became the United States’ newest citizens upon taking the Oath of Allegiance during a ceremony in Manassas, Virginia.
Kallinis and her sister Sophie founded Georgetown Cupcake in 2008 after moving to the US from Canada. From its humble beginnings in Georgetown and Bethesda, Maryland, the company has expanded to seven locations across the country with more than 300 employees.
Since the day she came, Kallinis had planned on obtaining American citizenship — and now she realized that vision.
“All of the greatest things that have happened in my life have happened in America,” Kallinis told ABC7 in an interview. “As long as you’re willing to work hard, you can really accomplish anything in this country.”
The cupcake connoisseur added that the US has given both her and her sister the opportunity to “fulfill [their] American Dream” — and build a widely successful business.
To celebrate that success on Kallinis’ big day — and In typical Georgetown Cupcake fashion — the two sisters baked 450 American decorated cupcakes to share with their fellow citizens.
Such generosity and philanthropy have earned the sisters national recognition, including in 2017 when they were honored by the New York City-based Greek America Foundation at the organization’s biannual Gabby Awards ceremony in Carnegie Hall.
Intended to honor “Greek America’s Best and Brightest,” the 2017 Gabby Awards drew in almost 1,000 attendees from both sides of the Atlantic whose careers span from finance, technology and hospitality to acting, dancing, music — and everything in between.
Kallinis and her sister Sophie regularly support the Greek America Foundation and have donated thousands of desserts for the organization’s events.
As part of their annual Christmas tradition called “Operation Cupcake,” the duo in 2017 donated 10,000 cupcakes to be shipped to American military service members overseas. Over the years, the campaign has brought cheer to thousands of soldiers — offering them a touch of home from afar during the holiday season.
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