I'm thrilled to be involved with the annual Cookies for Kids’ Cancer bake sale this weekend in Amagansett (I've been working out my baking skills all week). The story behind this incredible charity starts with the persevering spirit of Gretchen Holt-Witt and her son Liam. Her concept for raising awareness of pediatric cancer with a bake sale is rooted in community involvement, which really resonates with me. So I decided to snag a few moments with Gretchen to find out more...
And if you're in the area stop by the bake sale this Saturday, July 7th
3—6:00pm in Amagansett Square in the Hamptons
If you can't make it out this weekend, here's information on donating.
(Gretchen and her son Liam)
Your second Cookies for Kids' Cancer cookbook is due out next spring; how did you develop the concept?
I didn't exactly follow the typical path. A dear friend, Sally Sampson, who donated the recipes for the first baking event kept saying that we should do a cookbook to spread the word even further about Cookies for Kids’ Cancer. We were very fortunate to meet with an amazing editor at John Wiley & Sons who also saw the vision and together we decided we had the makings for a compelling cookbook. But, we didn’t just want to have a typical cookbook.
(The first Cookies for Kids' Cancer Cookbook)
To us, the recipe for a successful book included both the tangible assets – the recipes – but also the intangible assets which were the stories of people who have held their own events and tips on how to host a successful event. The book, The Cookies for Kids’ Cancer Best Bake Sale Cookbook, has more than 65 foolproof recipes perfect for bake sales and dozens of profiles of bake sale hosts from across the country. One thing to mention about the book, which at $19.99 is a great deal, all author profits go directly to pediatric cancer research.
(A sneak peek at the photoshoot for the second cookbook, due out Spring 2013.)
Holding a bake sale conjures a lot of nostalgia for childhood and helps to create a sense of community. Can you expand on how you came up with the bake sale concept?
After the first mega bake-a-thon and long after we stopped selling cookies, people kept getting in touch with us asking us how they could involved in their community. They heard what we were doing. They were inspired. They wanted to see the magic continue. Hosting a Cookies for Kids’ Cancer bake sale seemed to us to be the perfect way for people to get involved in their community whether they baked a few cookies and had a bake sale at work or baked a few thousand cookies and hold a large-scale event. To us, it didn’t matter what people did…we just wanted them to be "Good Cookies".
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