Have a bake sale, fight childhood hunger

I'm not quite sure how this tiny blog got on anyone's radar (it isn't vegan,vegetarian, primal, raw, or anything niche; I barely write about recipes, I don't document my exploits, in fact, I hardly talk about myself at all) but lately I've been getting press releases of varying quality and quantity. I love the announcements I get from publishers about new cookbooks, food-based memoirs, or food-oriented work or fiction. By contrast, the announcement of a new blog or platform isn't really appropriate for Cake and Commerce, which is mostly my first person take on artisan products and food that I like or make.

The other day a press release arrived that I actually found compelling enough to talk about here. They weren't asking me to buy something or to write a paid article about a product or place or thing. Rather they were asking me to get the word out, via my blog, about a bakesale/fundraiser/grassroots event to support the fight against hunger in the US.

I like events that on the outside seem trite and silly, but ultimately benefit a cause I hold dear, mainly because it doesn't really feel like work. Last year I organized a charity auction - basically a win-a-date-thing -which benefited the Greater Chicago Food Depository. In one week of online auctions, our group contributed over $2000 to their fight against hunger.

So when I found out about the Great American Bake Sale, I found the pull of baking sweets for charity too great to resist. I don't care about the celebrities involved (you'll need to go to the website to find out who they are), but the cause and the means of raising money, through bakesales, won my sugar-coated heart over. I love a bakesale. I love baking. I love raising money for anti-hunger causes. And registering to have a bakesale couldn't be easier.

For those of you who may be put off by the involvement of C&H, The Food Network, Family Circle, and food celebrities, take note: you can organize a bakesale and donate proceeds without commercial sponsorship or intervention, and your money will go directly to Share Our Strength, one of the largest anti-hunger non-profits out there who have turned fundraising into an experiential art.

You only have 6 more weeks to register - the deadline is June 30th. So get baking!

www.greatamericanbakesale.org

Comments

[JR]

Hi - Where did you hold your bake sale? My sister and I are trying to hold one this summer and we wanted to do it in a high traffic area (like an open market, farmer's market, etc.) but of course we aren't a health board approved licensed kitchen so no one will accept us as a vendor and I'm sort of out of ideas - looking for something with a little more bang than just a church or something.

Thanks!

[Cake and Commerce]

JR - I'm not a bakesale gal - I ended up not doing a thing for this event. But if you want to make a difference, Craigslist is your friend. So is your personal network. A friend of mine threw a bakesale at her home in a residential neighborhood and let everyone on facebook, in her address book, on her phone know. She raised a ton of cash that way. Good luck!