Cookie Central's Great American Bake Sale

Bake Walk For No Kid Hungry - Update 1

2012-01-22T14:29:00.000-05:00

Bake Walk for No Kid Hungry may not be for a few more months, but plans are well on their way and we even have a few early registrants!

Bake Walk Overview:

From June 15th - June 17th, Cookie Central will be providing local area businesses with baskets of our homemade chocolate chip cookies, donation jars and marketing material - Free! That's right, I said it. Thanks to Gardner Graphics - Presenting Sponsor and BJ's Wholesale Club - Product Sponsor, we are able to offer event participation for the doughnut...heck we even set everything up for you. I think it's safe to say this will be the easiest, most cost efficient (ha ha) way to get involved with our Great America Bake Sale campaign.

Our Awesome Presenting Sponsor

Participating Business Requirements:

We ask that all businesses that would like to participate in our bake walk fill out the Bake Walk Participation Form and provide us with a small table or counter space for the cookies and donation jar. Cookies are free with a $1.00 donation, or $1.00 that will be donated if you prefer. 100% of the funds raised will be donated! On June 18th (the day after the event) we come collect any remaining cookies, all our materials and the donations - obviously.

All the information you need about the event can also be found by clicking the Bake Walk tab above.

PERKS: How Can We Not Have Perks, Right?

We will be including all participating businesses in the "Wonderful Businesses Involved For 2012" Link list located in the left side bar of our blog. We will also be including mention of all participants registered before May 10th in our Mid-May press release for Bake Walk.

Dessert Party:
We will be providing a dessert party platter to the business that raises the most money! Assorted cookies, brownies, bars and cupcakes will be delivered right to your business for you and your crew to enjoy, so educate your staff and encourage everyone to get involved. That said, we also welcome businesses to offer additional in house specials in conjunction with the event. to help raise even more.

The Bake Walk Interactive Map: A great and easy way for people to see whose involved and where they are! Each participating business will be included on the map. For those businesses who check that pretty little "Yes" box next to "Are you willing to purchase any remaining cookies", we will also include a picture of your logo with a link back to your website and a brief business description. This map is public to Google searches and will be published on our main site as well as the Bake Walk landing page shortly.

Click the blue push pins to see the logo and description of the business.

View Bake Walk For No Kid Hungry in a larger map

Taste the Difference at the Nation's Premier Culinary Benefit

2012-01-17T20:04:00.000-05:00

I love to eat, but it's not just about the food. It's about the company kept, the conversations had and the memories made while sitting down to a meal. Sitting down with my own children, reminds me of when I was young. My mother frying chicken on the stove top, NPR playing in the background, the smell of the white rice cooking at every meal. We were - we are - fortunate. Sure there were, and are still, plenty of nights full of fighting children, burned vegetables and absent family members. But as I look back I realize, the majority of my fondest memories revolve around the meals I've shared with the people I love.

Picture: www.flickr.com/photos/paghababian

A Nation of Food
If you can picture yourself in a room filled with tables of food prepared by the greatest restaurants in your area then congratulations, you have officially made it to Taste of the Nation. This culinary benefit to support Share Our Strength's efforts to end childhood hunger in America began back in 1988 as most things do, with a small group of restaurants (25 to be exact) coming together to share their love of food and wine in the hopes of making a difference. A difference they made, raising nearly $250,000 in a single day! Taste of the Nation has since raised more than $75million and has blossomed into a nationwide movement with nearly 40 events scheduled to be hosted across the country (even one in Canada!).

Share The Love

Picture: funandfearlessinbeantown.blogspot.com

My first experience with Taste of the Nation was one of glorious overindulgence (as was my second and soon to be third). I found myself eating things I never thought I would, things I never knew existed and things that I just couldn't help but go back for seconds, thirds, fourths, fifths (yeah, I'm talking about you Wit & Wisdom). I implore anyone who loves food, GO! Get a couple of friends, go on your own, rent a party bus and bring everyone....but go.

Find An Event Near You

Kids For No Kid Hungry

2012-01-09T13:41:00.001-05:00

*Sharing Your Strength* is not just for adults

Cookie Central's Great American Bake Sale is creeping up on it's 4th year and I would like to take a moment to highlight two of the most important people in our campaign - my little girls Jazmin (10) and Mia (5). From the very first bake sale they have been such a driving force. From lemonade stands to mini flash mobs, these girls have not only taken part but motivated their friends to help as well. It's a true testament to how well even the youngest child can understand the hardships hungry children face each day.

It's Not Just My Kids!
Growing numbers of children and young adults are eager to help in the fight against childhood hunger in America. And now, with the help of Sodexo Foundation, Share Our Strength has released No Kid Hungry 2 and has embraced Share Our Strength's mission to end childhood hunger offering a one stop site full of resources, ideas and inspiration for any young person to make a difference.

Kids Kick Hunger

This portion of the No Kid Hungry 2 website is all about fun easy ways for the elementary school aged child to get involved. Find tool kits on how to collect Coins for Kids, sell Share Our Strength donation pin ups, host a bake sale (my favorite) and so much more.

Leaders Tackle Hunger

This portion of the No Kid Hungry 2 site is perfect for teens, providing tools to build momentum online using Facebook and Twitter as well as great fundraising/awareness raising ideas like The Food Stamp Challenge and (another favorite of mine) The Flash Mob.

Parents & Teachers

Just like it sounds! Resources and ideas to help us big people inspire, motivate and educate all those little people.

Gearing Up For 2012

2012-01-01T16:51:00.023-05:00

After a very busy holiday season, we at Cookie Central are back at it preparing for our 4th Annual Great American Bake Sale Campaign. While we are just in the beginning stages of planning, we welcome you to take a look at where our season is headed below and comment with any suggestions or feedback you may have.

As Always, Thanks For Reading! ~ Michele :)

~*~

In and Around Town:

We are spreading out a bake sale over the course of a weekend and enlisting the help of area businesses! This event will be cost-free for the businesses involved, and as easy as putting a basket of cookies or brownies on a counter. We will be providing a Bake Walk Map marking all the businesses involved which will be accessible right here on our blog as well as our main site and Facebook page. To sweeten the pot, we will be providing a pizza party to the business who raises the most money.

We are hashing out the details for the event now, but welcome anyone interested in participating contact us at anytime.

~*~

We have always wanted to host an event just for kids and what better way to get little hands involved then to host a Great American Putt Putt! Get ready for a fun filled day of face painting, ventriloquism, and putting for No Kid Hungry. We will have a bake table full of fun sweets and treats and, provided we get clearance from the health department, cookie and/or cupcake decorating as well. We will be focusing quite a bit on the new No Kid Hungry 2 site, spreading the word that you are never to young to make a difference!

We will be looking for volunteers to help run the various stations, as well as local Mothers Groups that would be willing to help promote the event.

~*~

As a prequel to Great American Golf Tournament, we will be hosting a low-key Glow Ball Tournament. Not being a golfer, I was shocked at the early response we got for golfing at night, but since we already have a few confirmations we're going to roll with it! Early evening cocktails and appetizers will be followed by a nine hole glow ball tournament and finished with cocktails and entertainment. Separate tickets will be available for those who want to enjoy just the cocktail reception and show.

~*~

Also Welcoming Back:

North Andover's Craft and Sheep Shearing Festival

North Andover's 4th of July Celebrations

Great American Golf Tournament

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Online Promotions:

We are expanding on Dollar Days and Cookies With Care and are planning on teetering back and forth between the two for the duration of the season. That said, we will revisit the original Cookies With Care benefiting the residence of Lazarus House Ministries Capernaum Place. We also want to open up a second Cookies With Care to incorporate an additional local hunger relief organization, and will be on the hunt for organizations willing to participate. As for the incredibly successful Dollar Days, we are hoping to add an additional online raffle to our schedule. We are also planning a spin off of our previously held Donate and Save called Gifting For Hunger...stay tuned for details!

~*~

Our Overdue Follow Up To Our Patriots Game Bake Sale

2011-11-28T18:40:00.000-05:00

Ah, Football
As you can see, nothing too glamorous. This was, however, the absolute most fun I've ever had at a bake sale! It may have been because it was low-key, or maybe it was the support of an RV full of people...or it could have been the cold beer... Either way, this -our final bake sale for 2011- was awesome.

Hitting The Pavement
The table didn't last but 5 minutes. The RV lot stayed pretty barren on our end, so we took the show on the road and hustled for No Kid Hungry. I am a genius for bringing baskets with handles and having this guy as my right hand man for the night was a HUGE plus! Many thanks to Dave for a job well done and really embracing the No Kid Hungry Message!!

I want to note, if strength.org saw a huge spike in hits between the hours of 6-8, it is most likely because I had to show practically everyone I spoke with that:

Yes, I am for real

Yes, all of the money will help feed hungry kids

...YES, there ARE hungry kids

and

Yes, I can back that up!

Cheers to the creation of the Smart Phone

Swag In The Stadium

We brought it! Whether or not we made it on the tube is another story... Either way, Team No Kid Hungry made it's presence known inside and out of Gillette and hopefully we reached even just a handful of people.

Pick Of The Night
At every bake sale I always come across that one person. Someone who really listens and will leave to make a difference. A chance encounter, during a brief altercation with a man who had been bitten by a camel (blog for another day) was how I met Chad. Not enough good things I can say about the conversation we had, but let's leave it at - this guy gets it! Chad, if you happen across this blog, I hope you make it to Taste of the Nation Boston and can't wait to introduce you to the hubby!

~*~

To everyone who has supported Cookie Central's 2011 Great American Bake Sale campaign, Thank You!! It has been a phenomenal year from beginning to end and we look forward to doing it all over in 2012. Please check in over the next few months as we blog our way to Taste of the Nation Boston as the official Hunger Message Chair!

~*~

It Only Gets Better & Better

2011-11-09T14:49:00.000-05:00

Get In The "KNOW"

Allow me to divert your attention to THIS BLOG POST written by Jeffrey Wood from Tyson Foods. That's right folks this little cookie lady is a Tyson Foods Hunger All-Star and all of us here at Cookie Central are thrilled!

Since 2000 Tyson Foods has been involved with the fight against hunger. They are a proud supporter of Share Our Strength, Lift Up America, Feeding America, and Food Research and Action Center. They strive to educate people across our nation about hunger in their communities and motivate them to get involved in hunger relief with their newly released KNOW Hunger campaign. Over the course of just more than a decade, they have donated more than 78 million pounds of protein, "enough protein to have served one meal to every American citizen". I'll break for a moment to give you all time to stand and applaud.

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One Last Run

With a little luck -and quite a bit of strong-arming- we have snatched up 2 tickets to The Patriots game for November 21st, leaving me incredibly happy to announce our Great American Bake Sale at Gillette Stadium is back ON baby!

PLEASE NOTE: We will no longer be in P2. We will be rolling in style and will be parking in the lot where the.....wait for it..... RVs park (ha ha). I would like to refrain from making any less than politically correct statements, but do want to throw out there - if anyone local has a couple of pink plastic flamingos and a blow-up kiddie pool we can borrow, I will be eternally grateful. We will also be experimenting with a suggestion we came across on The Bake Sale Neighborhood. FREE COOKIES. That's right, we will be giving it all away for the doughnut (no pun intended), with donations graciously accepted of course. We will also be bringing our No Kid Hungry swag to the seats, so keep an eye out for us behind the goalpost in the north end zone. GO PATS

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We're Jumping Ship

No, I'm just kidding. The hubby and I are, however, hopping on the committee for Taste of the Nation Boston 2012! Curious who the big dog is? Why, non other than Eve Lee who hosts one of the nations most successful Great American Bake Sales, was nominated for the GABS Community Leadership Award (sorry Eve, better luck next year :P) and has been volunteering for Taste of the Nation for several years now. I welcome you all to follow along as I tweet the bag out of this bad Larry (as my husband would so eloquently put it).

Taste of the Nation is one of Share Our Strength's 5 campaigns. This culinary benefit designed to raise awareness and funds for the fight against childhood hunger is THE go-to place for food lovers! Taste events are hosted all across the country and you can check to see if there's one near you HERE.
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Share Your Holiday Season With Us

*$10 Will Be Donated For Every Holiday Basket We Sell*

Friends Basket

$35

2 Dozen Assorted Cookies

Family Basket

$55

3 Dozen Assorted Cookies

1/2 Pan Classic Brownies

Gourmet Basket

$75

4 Dozen Assorted Cookies

1/2 Pan Classic Brownies

1/2 Pan Butterscotch Blondies

Call or Email Today

978-423-1215

mycookiecentral@gmail.com

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Taste of the Nation Baltimore and Conference of Leaders 2011

2011-10-20T22:19:00.001-04:00

This past weekend we closed up shop for a few days for Share Our Strength's Conference of Leaders and Taste of the Nation Baltimore. It was a weekend full of inspiration, education and food, glorious food!

Taste of the Nation Baltimore
For those of you who read our post about Taste of the Nation Boston, you very well know The Cookie Lady is all about gorging...and gorge I did! Of the 20-some participating restaurants, I spent the most time with Wit & Wisdom where I ate enough maple custard with caramel sauce and vanilla crumble to put the entire room into a food coma. My hubby and I mixed and mingled with the incredible people like famed chef Timothy Cipriano, Eve Lee, host of the Great American Bake Sale at Philips Healthcare, Bill Wooldridge one of Share Our Strength's Cutting Edge Scholarship Program participants and many, many more.

TOTN Baltimore Had A Photo Booth!

see the entire flicker stream here


What an absolutely GREAT idea! People could hop in the booth, snap a couple pictures and bring home a No Kid Hungry keepsake. The pictures were also projected on two large screens during the event...some information I could have used before hoping into the booth :P.

Conference of Leaders
This was a weekend full of such inspiration, such education and such passionate people, but I realize my attempt at writing about the entire conference in an itty bitty little blog post would be feeble at best. That said, I would like to hilghlight two of my favorite portions - Cooking Matters and the Getting Personal With No Kind Hungry session.

Cooking Matters - Share Our Strength's food education course that teaches families, teens and individuals how to prepare healthy, delicious food on a limited budget - staff and volunteers were prominent throughout the entire conference. To know that Share Our Strength offers a program to help parents and children really work with what they get (which, too often, is very little) is fantastic. There was a lot of discussion about nutrition and food insecurity and this is a phenomenal campaign that helps families face challenges they may encounter. I especially love that Cooking Matters is rocking it out up here in the northeast! Check out the Cooking Matters home page for links to downloadable tool kits, finding a program near you and getting involved.

One of my favorite sessions, Getting Personal With No Kid Hungry, was interactive! Led by Amy Crowell - Director of Great American Bake Sale & Grassroots Fundraising, this session gave me the opportunity to meet Aleta Greer, woman behind Coins For Kids, hear from Jackie Price who started hosting bake sales at 14 and has since raised over $10,000(WOW!), and brainstorm with other session participants on how to expand, better and evolve Great American Bake Sale. GABS is a campaign that, obviously, I love! To have the chance to hear other participants feedback was awesome and there is much that I will be taking away and utilizing in my 2012 campaign.

10 Things You Missed At Share Our Strength's Conference Of Leaders
Blog Post By Clay Dunn

Other Awesome No Kid Hungry Links: Get Local, Best Practices

5 Fun Off Topic Facts About My Weekend: written by me :)

Occupy Baltimore has approximately 15 tents
If you stay at Days Inn Inner Harbor you get a bag of microwave popcorn...and a microwave
If you take the escalators down from the ballroom in Renaissance Inner Harbor, you will not be able to get back up without walking around
Fred got pulled into the airport security box on the way home
We were on the same plane as Billy Shore (heading to Baltimore) and Jason Santos (heading home)

Flash Mob at Conference of Leaders

Just another reason to love Jessica Bomberg - Senior Coordinator of Great American Bake Sale

WOOOOOO!!!

I am honored and humbled to receive Share Our Strength's 2011 Great American Bake Sale Leadership Award! Please find Share Our Strength's press release with the names of all 17 award winners HERE


Again, WOOOO!!!

Very Special Thank Yous To:
Our Campaign Sponsor - BJ's Wholesale Club of Haverhill, MA
The Ladies of Great American Bake Sale - Amy Crowell, Jessica Bomberg and Sylvia Vidal
Twitter Peeps That Really Helped Spread The Word - Ty Sullivan, John Scroggins, Amanda Hite, Joel Owens, Jamie L. Simon, and Steff Childs
Facebook Peeps That Did So Too - Carolyn Kolowsky, Brian Gardner, Monte Tareski & Steve Presley, Herbert Chao
The Friends of Kevin Radio Show - Especially Kevin Willet
My Little Girls - Jazmin & Mia
My Parents- Who show up at every event
My AWESOME Husband - who I now owe $10

Links for everyone who participated in 2010 & 2011 are located in the left sidebar. THANK YOU!

A Kindle, A Baker & A Holiday Tag

2011-10-03T22:22:00.000-04:00

Win My Kid A Kindle!

My daughter's 10th birthday is October 13th and now that she's a little older, she has decided to ask for one big present rather than one big party. Wondering what she asked for? A Kindle of all things! And oddly enough, this is exactly the prize for Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale's Take Your Best Shot Contest!!

Why Vote "Team Cookie Central" Today?

Just look at that face....

**VOTE TODAY**

Vote Team Cookie Central (Michele Gorham)

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Join The Fat Baker Club

**During the month of October, we will donate your entire membership fee to Share Our Strength to support their efforts to fight childhood hunger in America*

It is great customers like you that keep Cookie Central running! As a way to give back we now offer The Fat Baker Club, featuring free monthly giveaways, discounts on all your orders and a complimentary gift basket when you sign up. Check out the Fat Baker Club Blog to learn more.

***Yearly Membership Includes:

5% off All Your Orders For The Entire Year

One Compilmentary Gift Basket

(includes chocolate chip, snickerdoodle and oatmeal raisin)

Automatic Entry Into Our Monthly Giveaways

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Share Your Holiday Basket

If your like me, you've alerady started your holiday shopping, possibly having some of the presents wrapped and ready to go. So for all you early birds, here's a preview of what basket specials we will have available for 2011. What makes these basket that much more special, is that each is attached with a Share Our Strenght holiday gift tag, letting your friends family and client know that you too are making a difference. Wth each basket sold, a $10.00 donation will be made by Cookie Central to Share Our Strength and support their efforts to fight childhood hunger in America.

Friends Basket

$35

2 Dozen Assorted Cookies

Family Basket

$55

3 Dozen Assorted Cookies

1/2 Pan Classic Brownies

Gourmet Basket

$75

4 Dozen Assorted Cookies

1/2 Pan Classic Brownies

1/2 Pan Butterscotch Blondies

That's A Wrap! Our 1st Annual Great American Golf Tournament

2011-09-27T16:29:00.003-04:00

Great American Golf Tournament Follow Up

Our Take Home Bags & Centerpiece

Month's of planning and within a day our 1st Annual Great American Golf Tournament is over. For all of you out there dancing to the sun gods, many thanks! We were graced with a gorgeous 80 degree day with lots of sun and the day's events from registration to saying farewell went off without a hitch. Together we raised about $3,900! (final total to be determined by the silent auction results).

Thank You To All Our Wonderful Players

Methuen Fire

Comprised solely of friends and co-workers, the field of players for our tourney was just outstanding. It was our goal to create an event that people would enjoy and look forward to each year. To see so many supporters join us for our first ever Great American Golf Tournament was heartwarming and motivation to revisit the event in 2012...which is already in the works!

The lovely Mandy!

To Our Wonderful Volunteers Thank You!

We could not have done it without you!! A big fat thank you to Mandy and Abbey who did an unbelievable job throughout the whole tournament, Lisa of LI Designs who took most of our pictures and my mom Sharon who helped get things rolling at registration.

I'd also like to send a very warm thank you to Dennis McCarthy of Lazarus House Ministries who, even though was not on the volunteer roster, showed up (twice) to donate his time. What incredible support!

The Incredible Fred

To My Wonderful Husband Fred

Like I mentioned on The Friends of Kevin Radio Show, "It always seems to start with Fred..." and without a doubt, this golf tournament was all Fred. He got the golfers, ran the games, he made the speech at the reception, heck* he even came up with the idea! To have him hop on the bake sale band wagon with me and be so excited about doing it all over again next year is phenomenal. We have truly become a family fundraising for No Kid Hungry...and that's just plain awesome.

To Our Wonderful Sponsors, Vendors & Donators

1st Hole

KBK Sports who hosted the silent auction and whose founder is the VP of The Lowell Spinners.

Blast Mixer Smoothies, Lemonade and Skinny Alternative Energy Drinks for hosting a table at the registration area and making a charitable contribution to our tourney.

Click Here For The Full List of People Involved

A Big Fat Thank You to Merrimack Valley Golf Club!

The View From Registration/Clubhouse

Awesome, awesome people! I showed up well before I was expected (a habit of mine) and was greeted by the most exceptional staff. From the help with set up to coordinating the tournament, these guys were top notch. We heard from just about every golfer that the course looked incredible and played well. Merrimack Valley Golf Club

Incredible Food From Simply Elegant Catering!

Breakfast's Coffee & Pastry Table

Simply Elegant Catering provided us with the most incredible guy -Andrew- to manage the meals served at our tournament. He bent over backwards for us and was a great addition to the tournament staff for the day. Sam and Michele were very accommodating and really made a huge impact on the success of the day. Also, they donated all the left over food from the tournament to Lazarus House Ministries' emergency shelter.

Other Fun From The Day

1, 2, 3...Shoot!

Carts were driving around the course offering samples of wine, scotch and tequila. I know, I know- It sounds like a bad idea, but the golfers loved it!

Posing for the camera

Bobby (right) and my wonderful husband Fred (left)

No, we're not kidding. This guy actually shot the worm....

The Putt Off

Our 11 Finalists

The Peanut Gallery! Or should I say hecklers.

Dennis Gillespie, who didn't make the $5K putt (sorry Dennis!)

Great American Golf Tournament Donations & Sponsors!

2011-09-20T10:58:00.000-04:00

It's almost here, our 2011 Great American Bake Sale finale!

Great American Golf Tournament

8:00 Shotgun

Monday, September 26th

Merrimack Valley Golf Club

Methuen, Ma

Below is a list of all our wonderful sponsors, participating businesses and raffle prizes donated. So many thanks to everyone involved!!

Links for everyone can be found in the left sidebar.

Register Here......Volunteer Here......Donate Here

Have an awesome day everyone!

Tournament Winner Prizes

Haverhill Country Club Foursome

Bradford Country Club Foursome

Merrimack Valley Golf Club Foursome

Raffle Prizes

3) Adobe Photo Shop Elements 9 (Donated by Bill Sahlas)

$75 Gift Certificate to Burton's Grill

3) $50 Gift Certificates To The Loft (Donated by MerchantCircle)

Ticket to Taste Of The Nation Boston 2012

$50 Gift Certificate to Independent Tire

$100 Gift Certificate to A Great New Look

Dinner for Four from The Meat House

2) Lube/Oil/Filter Changes at Trombley Bros., Inc.

Pizza Party from Stachey's Olde-Time Pizzeria

4 Passes to LaserCraze

One Month Membership to Choice Fitness

Starbucks Gift Basket

Ice Cream Cake from Mad Maggies

$35 Gift Certificate to New England Seafoods

$25 Gift Certificate to Atkinson Country Club

$25 Gift Certificate to Jamie's Restaurant

$25 Gift Certificate to Palmers Restaurant

$25 Gift Certificate to Outback Steakhouse

$25 Gift Certificate to T.G.I. Fridays

$25 Gift Certificate to Mexico Lindo

$20 Gift Certificate from Stop N Shop

$25 Worth of Free Product from Cedars Foods

Hole Sponsors

Auclair's Auto Body
Auto Spa Car Wash
    Bada Bing
    Bada Boom
    BJ's Wholesale Club of Haverhill
    Body Works Auto Body
    Boles Funeral Home
    C & D Auto Glass
    Durso & Jankowski Insurance Agency
    Global Glass
    Jamie's Restaurant
    LaFlemme, Barron & Chabot Attorneys At Law
    LI Designs
    Merrimack Valley Corp. Climate Design Systems
    Merrimack Valley Property Maintenance
Methuen Fire Department Local 1691 (2)

Mike Condon Councilor at Large

Polar Bear Insulation

Ron Marsan Candidate for East District Councilor

The Sweetheart Inn

The Wonderful Businesses Involved

Gardner Graphics
    The Swamptones
    K & K Floral and Design
    Jungle Stuff
    Lounge 59
    Chuckles Comedy Club
    Boston Auto Glass
    Merrimack Valley Golf Club
    Bj's Wholesale Club

September Update For Cookie Central's Great American Bake Sale Campaign

2011-09-14T08:00:00.000-04:00

National Baking Week Follow Up

Did you know we ran a promotion for Great American Bake Sale's National Baking Week August 29th-September 4th? If you answered "No" you are not alone! While we had three of our lovely customers participate by joining our new rewards program The Fat Baker Club, all of us here in the Cookie Central kitchen think that we can do better. With that said, get ready for the month of October when we will be revisiting our Fat Baker Club/National Baking Week promotion.

During the entire month of October we will be donating 100% of all the membership fees for The FBC to our Great American Bake Sale campaign! Have plans to thank your clients with our corporate baskets, send a few gift baskets to friends and family, or order some of our wonderful decorated cookies? With the holidays coming, everyone can benefit from the 5% discount, free cookie basket and monthly giveaways.
Subscribe to our blog.and check out The FBC Blogger page for updates

Cookie Central on The Friends Of Kevin Radio Show
That's right folks, we hit the airwaves to promote our upcoming golf tournament and talk about Cookie Central's 2011 Great American Bake Sale season. A special shout out to WSMN Radio and the incredible Kevin Willet, founder of Friends of Kevin and host to the show! Make sure you check out some of our other YouTube videos we have posted. PLEASE NOTE*** The Cupcake Wars audition video is not suitable for all audiences. There's your disclaimer, consider yourselves warned ;)

Great American Golf Tournament

"Driving For No Kid Hungry"

Well, it's getting close people. Plans for our tourney are rolling right along and boy do we have some awesome prizes! Tourney winning teams will each receive a foursome to one of three local golf clubs. Raffle prizes range from restaurant gift cards to Adobe products. We will be joined by Lowell Spinners VP for a silent auction of sports memorabilia. Whiskey and wine tasting will take place on the course and don't forget the incredibly awesome band we will have during the reception (Dinner & A Show tickets are available for non-golfers). Needless to say, it's going to be an amazing event, BUT registration closes this Friday. So if you are coming, register now!!

Do You Dine Out?

September 18th marks the beginning of Dine Out For No Kid Hungry. Restaurants will will support Share Our Strength's efforts to fight childhood hunger in America by offering specials, gifts and promotions from 9/18-9/24. This is a nationwide event that many of your favorite restaurants may already be involved in, so make sure you check out the Dine Out Map to see who's participating in your area.

Excuse Me While I Take Off For......
It's that time of year and Cookie Central will be closed October 14-18 as we attend Share Our Strength's Conference Of Leaders and Taste Of The Nation Baltimore. I'm thrilled to say that I've been nominated for the 2011 GABS Community Leadership Award...and not by my mother (whoop, whoop!). I can only imagine I will be pouring out a whole boat load of tweets during the conference, so if you would like to follow along please follow me on Twitter.

As always, thank you for reading! ~ Michele Gorham :)

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National Baking Week Is On

2011-08-31T10:31:00.008-04:00

That's right folks! Great American Bake Sale is hosting National Baking Week right now. From August 29th until September 4th, bakeries across the nation will join together to fight childhood hunger in American. Do you know of a bakery involved (besides us, of course)? We are looking to reach out to the other incredible people working to fight for No Kid Hungry. Please feel free to shoot us any info to Michele at mycookiecentral@gmail.com.

Now for OUR portion of National Baking Week:

We were proud to release our new rewards program The Fat Baker Club August 29th (you may have seen our promo for it a couple posts ago). What The FBC is, is a way for frequent flyers to Cookie Central to save on all orders -5%, including on sales and specials!- , receive a complimentary cookie basket -our way of saying thank you for joining- and get entered to win our monthly giveaways which will range from free products, to great discounts, to complimentary specials. During National Baking Week, we will be donating 100% of the $40/year membership fee to Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale.

Think this is a great promotion and want to do more? Recruit your friends to The FBC and we will send you a free half dozen of snickerdoodles for every member you bring in!

Don't forget!!

The holidays are coming and we offer a wide variety of great specials to cover anyone on your shopping list. This is a great opportunity to help fight hunger and save on your holiday shopping!

This is also a great way to save on all those decorated cookies! Baby showers, bridal showers, wedding receptions, anniversary parties and more.

Follow along with FBC news on The Fat Baker Club Blog Page

Cookie Central's 3rd Annual Great American Bake Sale Continues

2011-08-11T15:32:00.000-04:00

We've had a CRAZY July campaigning for Great American Bake Sale!
Our Cookies With Care online promotion was a success. 6 care packages were bought and over $100 was raised for No Kid Hungry. Again, a huge thank you to the folks at Lazarus House for helping us to set up and promote this campaign! Our bake sale at The Meat House and 4th of July (well 3rd actually) on The North Andover Common brought in almost $650 and the bake sale at Philips Healthcare, hosted b the incredible Eve Lee, raised a whopping $4350! I am thrilled to say we are at 36% of our fundraising goal....and we are not stopping.

What's to come?

We published in our last blog our plans for Great American Bake Sale's National Baking Week. The Fat Baker Club site is in the works and we are so super excited about it's release August 29th. Remember, not only can you save big and win big, but when joining during Great American Bake Sale's National Bakery Week 100% of your membership fee will benefit Share Our Strength! Please stay tuned for our next blog with full details.

We have a band!
That's right folks, we have secured a band for our Great American Golf Tournament. The incredibly awesome New Orleans style blues/jazz/funk band -The Swamptones- will be providing the entertainment for the dinner portion of our tourney! Because we know many of you do not play golf (we certainly do not), we have available Dinner & A Show tickets for just $40. Join us for an afternoon of great eats and awesome tunes all to benefit the fight against childhood hunger.

I know what I said;

I Tweeted on and on about the bake sale at Philips Healthcare being the final "bake sale" of the season. Well...statement retracted! Not even a couple weeks out and the bake sale bug struck again. While the plans are in uber rough stage right now, the intentions are to bake sale while tail-gating at Gillette Stadium...because nothing can go wrong with that :/. Probably not the classiest bake sale we will host this year, but I have a good feeling it will be a whole heck of a lot of fun!

Thanks For Reading! ~ Michele Gorham :)

Great American Bake Sale's National Bakery Week Is Coming

2011-07-30T10:30:00.001-04:00

Introducing

The Fat Baker Club

August 29th-September 3rd Cookie Central will be participating in Great American Bake Sale's National Bakery Week and introducing our *New* rewards program The Fat Baker Club. This is a great opportunity for all you frequent flyers to save big, win big and help in the fight against childhood hunger in America!

Gain Access To

A set 5% off all order year round (including sales and specials)

Access to our monthly giveaway contest*
A complimentary gift basket**

100% of Memberships Received During National Bakery Week Will Be Donated To Share Our Strength and Support Their Efforts To Ensure Children At Risk Of Hunger Have Access To Nutritious Food Where The Live, Learn and Play.

*Registration begins August 29th*

~***~

*The monthly giveaways will include Cookie Central products, gift cards and additional discounts on orders. By being a member of the FBC, you will automatically be entered into this monthly contest.

** Your complimentary gift basket (valued at approximately $30) can be delivered/shipped to the location of your choosing. Gift basket will include; 2 Dozen assorted cookies (Chocolate Chip, Snickerdoodle and Oatmeal Raisin). Shipping or delivery charges may apply.

~***~

A Follow Up To Our Final Two Bake Sales of 2011!

2011-07-24T14:52:00.000-04:00

Our Great American Bake Sale At The Meat House

How's Your Heat?

Talk about a hot, hot, hot bake sale! Ill admit, I was nervous going into this event when I heard the temps would be in the mid-nineties and I would be sharing my tent with a lit grill. But alas, the bake sale gods shined down and we came ever so close to selling out. We were also graced with the presence of Heather co-owner of Planet Marshmallow (one of the incredible products sold at The Meat House). A little tip, get the Peanut Butter Bash...incredible! The days total was 2 dollars shy of $300, putting our Team's total to $1816.00 for the year. We'd love to hit that $2,000 mark before our Great American Golf Tournament (hint, hint).

Special Thank Yous

Thank you out to The Meat House of North Andover for letting up set up shop in front of their store, the event literally would not have been possible without their help. Also, a huge thank you to The Meat House social media marketing department for their overwhelming support with Tweets and ReTweets before, during and after our event. Thank you also to Denise Smith who purchased a Cookies With Care package which will be delivered to Capernaum Place and benefit the fight to end childhood hunger in America! The reception at this event was one of the best to date! Thanks to everyone who stopped to shop and learn more about Share Our Strength and Great American Bake Sale.

The Great American Bake Sale at Philips Healthcare (Andover)

3 buildings, dozens of bakers, a raffle, fresh squeezed lemonade and $4350.00 for No Kid Hungry!

What an awesome, awesome, awesome event! This was the 3rd year Great American Bake Sale filled the lobby(s) of Philips Healthcare with the event growing lager and larger every year. To date, Philips Healthcare's Great American Bake Sale has raised $10,763.05!!

The Incredible Eve Lee everyone!

Many thanks to Eve Lee, hostess of the event, for the invite to participate! Not only does Eve play hostess to this event, one of the most successful Great American Bake Sales in the country, but she also helps to coordinate Taste Of The Nation Boston, which is where we originally met this past April. I love connecting with others dedicated to ending childhood hunger in America and the fact that Eve does so, so much for Share Our Strength and is literally minutes away is just great!

Bake Sale Participants: Some Inspiration For Packaging & Product!

One of the most common questions in The Bake Sale Neighborhood (a social platform for Great American Bake Sale participants to meet, ask questions and share advice on how to have a successful event) is in regards to what to bake and how to package it. So here are some great sell outs that were at the day's event.

Chocolate Covered Pretzel Rods
I love the fact these were made by a Cookie Central Facebook Fan! Laurie C. made these wonderful treats that added so much flare to the table..for the short time they were on it (Sold Out!). She did say they were a bit time consuming, but if you have the time I would definitely recommend batching out a few for your next bake sale.

How adorable are these!?! Blue fondant stars on top these chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream. Cupcake wrappers like these can be found at your local craft store.

Chocolate Covered Oreos on a Stick!
These suckers sold, sold, sold. They are easy to make and can be decorated with a variety of sprinkles.

Here's a creative and inexpensive way to package those individual cupcakes. Simply drop the cupcake in a clear disposable cup, cover with plastic wrap and tie with a ribbon.

Give your individual cupcakes a bit of flare! Sets of bags and cake (or in this case cupcake) circles are available at your local craft store

Summer Hunger

2011-07-12T22:05:00.001-04:00

Did you know, 31 million children living in our country receive free and reduced priced school lunches? With summer officially in full swing, and the majority of us planning vacations and trips to the beach, the thought of those affected negatively by the end of the school year often falls to the wayside.

You may be thinking to yourself, "Hungry kids? What Hungry Kids!", but the truth is we are surrounded by children living not only with hunger, but in poverty and in some cases homelessness. In fact, there are approximately 80,000 people at risk of hunger in Essex County, MA alone.

In and around our community and across the country there are a number of different organizations committed to providing children with summer meals including breakfast, lunch and snacks. These programs are designed to help children gain access to nutritious food throughout the summer months, but the children at risk of hunger and their families need to know about these programs for them to be successful. Helping can be as simple as clicking one little tweet or share button. Below is some information on organizations in our community working to fight hunger. If you know of a child(ren) at risk of hunger, and even if you don't, please share this information. It could mean a summer's worth of meals for a child at risk of hunger. #BeTheChange

Thanks for reading! ~ Michele :)

Project Bread Food Source Hotline 1-800-645-8333 and Hunger Map
National Hunger Hotline at 1-866-3-HUNGRY

Child Nutrition Outreach Program: Resource Page

Local area food banks and pantries that can connect you with summer feeding programs: Lazarus House, Cor Unum, Bread and Roses, North Parish Church, Merrimack Valley Food Bank, Dracut Food Pantry, Table of Plenty

National organizations making a difference: Share Our Strength, Feeding America

Oh look, pie! A Follow Up To Our July 3rd Bake Sale

2011-07-10T10:16:00.001-04:00

"Oh look, pie!"

We went pie happy for our 3rd of July bake sale on the North Andover Common! While the pies didn't move as much as we would have liked, just about everything else on the table did. Our table was loaded with Lemon Pound Cake with a Strawberry/Lemon Curd Filling, Coffee Cake, Cookies and Brownies, but the biggest seller of the day was none other than the good ole fashion Chocolate Chip Cookie Pop! If I could find a way to put everything I bake on a stick, I don't doubt for a second that we would sell out at all our events.

Looking back at last years event, all 95 degrees of it, I must say we lucked out with a slightly overcast and much cooler day. In addition to our baked products, we raffled of an Ice Cream Maker which was won by The Schwartz Family holding raffle ticket #881590. Congratulations and happy ice cream making! The total for the day came in at $346.00 all of which has been donated to Share Our Strength and their efforts to ensure children at risk of hunger have access to nutritious food where they live, learn and play.

A huge thank you to all the wonderful people who came by our table!

More Bake Sale News!

BBQ & Cookies!

With a slight eep, we look towards our next event this coming Saturday (July 16th) from 2-6pm at The Meat House in North Andover! Join us for FREE BBQ and cheap cookies for a cause. Find details on our 2011 GABS Summary Page .

Our July Online Promotion Cookies With Care.
Help to fight childhood hunger in America and acknowledge the successes of the residents of Capernaum Place working their way out of hunger, poverty and homelessness. A special thanks once again to the wonderful people of Lazarus House who have helped us to put this promotion together! Find additional information about this campaign HERE.

Registration is now open for Great American Golf Tournament
Join us for an exciting 18 hole scramble full of games, contests and other super exciting stuff! Not a golfer? Purchase tickets for the dinner/raffle portion of our event! For full details and links to everything you need to know check out our Great American Golf Tournament Page

Find out more about how you can help in the fight against childhood hunger in America! http://strength.org

Ice Cream Maker Winner!

2011-07-04T20:02:00.001-04:00

This will be followed up with a blog about our July 3rd Great American Bake Sale, but for now....The winner of the Ice Cream Maker is (drumroll please) Raffle ticket holder #881590!! Congratulations and a huge thank you for helping us fight childhood hunger in America!!

The Past, Present and Future Of Cookie Central's 3rd Annual Great American Bake Sale

2011-06-27T15:03:00.001-04:00

We are halfway through Cookie Central's 3rd Annual Great American Bake Sale season! With three online promotions and four bake table events under belt, I'm pleased to announce we have raised almost 25% of our intended goal. You may be thinking this number is a tad off for a halfway mark but as they say, the best is yet to come.

We are currently promoting our last (we think) online promotion of the season. Cookies With Care has been the most anticipated online promotion we've run as it incorporates Lazarus House, one of our area's most prominent anti-hunger/poverty organizations This incredible organization is one that, like Share Our Strength, seeks to provide, create and maintain "long term solutions" to the issues of hunger, poverty and homelessness that face our community. I am thrilled to announce that we've received a very positive early response.

We are also looking forward to three, yes I said three, bake table events during the month of July. In our "2011 GABS Summary" page you can find all the pertinent information to attend one of these illustrious events! However, to give you a bit of an overview of what to expect.... We will be revisiting the North Andover Common this coming weekend for the 4th of July celebrations. We have also made plans to team up with The Meat House located in The Vinyard plaza. How can you go wrong when you mix wine, BBQ and cookies am I right?! We have also been invited to join the Great American Bake Sale over at Philips Medical in Andover, MA. This event I am so excited for! The woman (or possibly one of the woman) hosting this event is none other then Eve Lee who I volunteered for over at Taste of the Nation Boston. She is an avid Share Our Strength supporter and a veteran of Great American Bake Sale. To be a part of her bake sale will certainly kick some serious butt!

And now, our Great American Bake Sale season finale..... the Great American Golf Tournament! Thanks to my wonderful husband we have gone head first into the plannings of what we hope to become an annual event in our GABS. We will need volunteers!! We could also use as much help as can be spared spreading the news across various platforms of social media, so get your RT/Share/Like fingers ready! Check out our GAGT page in the link above for specifics, registration links and sponsor info. AND REMEMBER! We are selling dinner tickets to the event.....not playing golf is not an excuse ;)

So that wraps up our segment on the past, present and future of our 2011 GABS. We hope to see one (at least one) of you at an upcoming event and extend our eternal gratitude to everyone who has already participated in Cookie Central's 3rd Annual Great American Bake Sale.

Wishing you all an incredible week! ~ Michele :)

~

Cookies With Care

2011-06-21T07:18:00.001-04:00

A few months after opening our doors we stumbled across a bag of Dominos Sugar with a promotion for Great American Bake Sale during a late night pit stop for supplies. Not only did this simple little promotion ignite in myself, my family and all of us involved with Cookie Central the want help the children struggling with hunger, but it gave us a plan how to do just that. As our online promotions for the 2011 season draw to an end, we at Cookie Central wanted to do just a little bit more for those living in our own community and have decided to combine our efforts for Share Our Strength with the efforts of Lazarus House Ministries one of Merrimack Valleys most incredible anti-hunger/poverty organizations.

During their more than 25 years, Lazarus House has grown from a homeless shelter to encompass dozens of programs and services designed to help individuals and families find shelter during the worst of times and build for themselves a secure and poverty free life. What's truly impressive is that, receiving less than 1% of their funds from government agencies, it is hundreds of individuals, families, businesses, corporations and organizations that constitute the funds and supplies used to provide these substantially successful programs and services. As was so eloquently said Lazarus House Ministries Overview 2010 video "We at Lazarus House have nothing to give but other people's goodness"

I am beyond thrilled to announce that this month's online promotion Cookies With Care will give people a way to show their support for the incredible people at Capernaum Place working to break free from poverty, hunger and homelessness.

*Cookies With Care*

June 20th - July 29th

To purchase your Cookies With Care package today simply visit The Cookie Central Team Page and donate $20.00. Each care package will contain 1 1/2 Dozen Chocolate Chip Cookies and 4 Classic Brownies. Packages will be delivered to the individuals and families residing at Capernaum Place.

A special thank you to the folks at Lazarus House for all their help and support getting this promotion up and running!

--->Order Here <---

Fighting Homelessness In Our Community: Capernaum Place

2011-06-02T20:39:00.000-04:00

There is no doubt of how profoundly Lazarus House Ministries has impacted the lives of those they serve. During their more than 25 years, Lazarus House has grown from a homeless shelter to encompass dozens of programs and services designed to help individuals and families find shelter during the worst of times and build for themselves a secure and poverty free life. What's truly impressive is that, receiving less than 1% of their funds from government agencies, it is hundreds of individuals, families, businesses, corporations and organizations that constitute the funds and supplies used to provide these substantially successful programs and services. As was so eloquently said Lazarus House Ministries Overview 2010 video "We at Lazarus House have nothing to give but other people's goodness".

Capernaum Place is one of Lazarus House Ministries' incredible services "a place of transition where one can live securely and privately while building the skills and saving money for permanent, independent housing". Like all the programs Lazarus House offers, Capernaum Place provides people with the motivation, education and life skills workshops needed to maintain a poverty free life.

It is required that those living in Capernaum Place want to move out of poverty and are willing to put forth the effort to achieve that goal. To move forward is a requirement. With the motivation of two employed case workers', multiple educational and life skills workshops residents acquire the tools needed to maintain a poverty free life. It is a coveted position and the residents know they must work hard to achieve their goals. A 6 month lease that must be renewed to utilize the maximum 2 year stay, stresses the inevitable end to their stay at Capernaum Place. What was wonderful to learn is the hard work required for those living at Capernaum is seen as opportunity. For many of the residents their goal is to provide their child(ren), when arriving at Capernaum they have the knowledge that this goal will be attained and the effort they put forth is done with determination.

"Coming to Capernaum Place was like getting another chance at life and a chance at being successful and not have to look at homelessness once we leave here"

Life Skills Workshops are offered which teach basic life skills such as budgeting, time management, nutrition and child care. Leaderships Skills programs are also offered to the high school youth living at Capernaum Place. The culmination of the programs offered prepare the residents to be successful with an independent life, "This is a very good program...the Life Skills Workshops, I have put my bills in my name and they are preparing me for the future."

To be given the opportunity to take the stress of poverty and homelessness away is not taken for granted by those living at Capernaum Place. Their accomplishments are strewn over the walls of the meeting room. Residents write weekly achievements on sticky notes which are proudly displayed in clusters on the walls. To see the transition is incredible. To see the gratitude, hope and inspiration in each note was heartwarming. Acquired jobs, up-to-date finances, and my favorite "I graduated and completed my CNA. I got permanent housing now and I'm not homeless anymore."

Capernaum Place is home to individuals and families that are working hard everyday to break the cycle of poverty. People who strive to do more, who find success where they never thought they could, to provide their child with a life they never had. This is a haven for those who want to build a better life and with a 90% success rate of guests moving on to permanent housing it is invaluable.

To Learn More About Lazarus House and their phenomenal programs please visit:
www.lazarushouse.org or call (978) 689-8575

~ ~ ~

Cookie Central will host the online promotion Cookies With Care in an effort to acknowledge the residents of Capernum Place and the successes they have achieved.

From June 20th until July 29th, people will be able to show their support by purchasing a special care package. Each care package will contain 1 1/2 Dozen Chocolate Chip Cookies and 4 Classic Brownies at the cost of $20.00 per package.

Cookies With Care is a part ouf our 2011 Great American Bake Sale campaign.

100% of the funds raised will help to feed hungry kids where they live, learn and play.

While this campaign does not begin for a few more weeks, we welcome early orders!

Donate and Save For No Kid Hungry

2011-05-22T00:13:00.000-04:00

*Donate and Save*
May 20th-June 19th

Donate to our 2011 Great American Bake Sale and receive a gift certificate for your next order!

Donate $5 and receive a 5% off coupon

Donate $10 and receive a 15% off coupon

How It Works:

Visit the Cookie Central Team Page to make your donation.

Your name will appear on the donation honor roll

We will contact you via email to acquire the necessary information to mail you your gift certificate.

Questions You May Have

Can the gift certificates be sent to anyone I choose?

Absolutely! If you want to use your gift certificate as a present just let us know when we contact you.

Do the gift certificates expire?

No, they are good until the end of time

Are there any restrictions?

No. Typically we do not allow combining specials, but

because this is a part of a fundraiser we have not included any restrictions.

What if I donated and still haven't heard from you?

We apologize!

Please contact us at MyCookieCentral@gmail.com and

we will be sure to get your gift certificate in the mail right away.

Fighting Hunger In Our Community: Merrimack Valley Food Bank

2011-05-20T12:59:00.000-04:00

Hunger in our communities is real, a fact that too often gets overlooked. Within our county's towns and cities are organizations whose missions are to provide food to those at risk of hunger. It was my pleasure to sit down with Executive Director Amy Pessia and Board Member and Social Media Advisor Danielle Bergeron of Merrimack Valley Food Bank, one of our areas most prominent and influential anti-hunger organizations.

"The focus of the Merrimack Valley Food Bank is to help meet a person’s most profound need — adequate nutrition and freedom from hunger"

Merrimack Valley Food Bank incorporated as a 501(c) 3 non-profit shortly after being founded by the Lowell Transitional Living Center in 1991 as a response to the need for a central food distribution agency in the city of Lowell. While MVFB can be considered a fledgling organization at 18 years old, the strides this local food bank has made over the last two decades to expand it's efforts is overwhelming. The once Lowell Food Bank (prior to incorporating) that ran out of donated space and served 6 food pantries in a rented UHaul now serves 25 cities and towns in the Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. The people Merrimack Valley Food Bank serves may not be who you think, however. As Amy explained, this 20,000 sq ft. warehouse is the "hub of the food distribution network in the region", providing food to the pantries, shelters and food organizations that service the families and individuals in our communities. The role MVFB, all food banks for that matter, play in the food distribution process is critical. Not only do they obtain long lasting relationships with area food production companies, farmers and businesses, but they also provide a location at which food can be kept in large quantities (something that is a challenge for many smaller pantries and shelters).

"Only through cooperative efforts can society initiate change develop strategies to alleviate hunger and work toward the well being of all people."

As was explained by Amy and Danielle, Merrimack Valley Food Bank has teamed up with a number of individuals and businesses such as Walmart who donated an astounding $10,000 toward the purchase of food and Merrimack Valley Magazine who has adopted MVFB as their non-profit and supports their efforts by regularly printing ads for MVFB. Several radio stations have also joined forces with MVFB, one being FRANK FM who helped to raise $2000 and nearly 1600 pounds of food at a live radio food drive this past December. Even Merrimack Valley Food Bank member Lazarus House, "a phenomenal agency committed to helping people move forward with their lives", donated a box truck which is beneficial when delivering food through tight city streets.

"For most of us, food is readily available at nearby stores. The ease with which food can be acquired can make us take for granted how vital food is to our well-being."

The future for Merrimack Valley Food Bank is bright! In a few weeks they will commence their 4th season of Community Market. This fruit and vegetable market gives families living in low income housing the opportunity to shop for free once a week for produce that they may not otherwise be able to afford. Modeled after the Mobile Market on Cape Ann, this incredibly successful program has helped to feed approximately 162 families residing in the Lowell Housing Authority community each season, that number growing with the introduction of another housing community to the Community Market, the George W. Flanagan housing development. Local groups, schools and individuals such as Farmer Dave, Middlesex C.C., UMass Lowell and Greater Lowell Health Alliance volunteer food, time and educational services to the families who attend.. Local groups, schools and individuals such as Farmer Dave, Middlesex C.C., UMass Lowell and Greater Lowell Health Alliance volunteer food, time and educational services to the families who attend.

MVFB is also working to expand on another new program that is currently in the planning stages; The Backpack Program. Merrimack Valley Food Bank will work with the school's superintendent and teachers to identify children living in food insecure households and provide them with snacks, drink and small microwavable meal to take home over the weekend. As you can well imagine, children receiving free and reduced lunches will run into difficulty finding consistent sources of nutritious food during the times they are not in school and this innovative program will be a wonderful addition to the 8 programs MVFB is currently running. While there is a ways to go before this program is full in effect, the pilot program currently running is a success and a base of food donations, gift cards and supporting business is being gathered for the official launch. The future plans will be to incorporate this program into all schools within the district with 80% or more children eligible for free and reduced lunch, currently 5.

"We try to educate the community about hunger being a year round issue"

You may think after reading this blog that Merrimack Valley Food Bank is enormous, after all the space alone is 20,000 sq ft., but in actuality they have a mere 12 employees. For an organization that distributed approximately 2.6 million lbs of food last year, this number is extraordinarily low. There are right now 80 regular volunteers that help with everything from inspecting and sorting, to preparing meal bags for the Mobile Pantry, to helping plan, prepare and run the annual food drives and fundraisers. But helping hands are always welcome. Regular volunteer positions are available. Between the months of January-June, then again in November & December, MVFB is in need of volunteers to inspect and sort food at their warehouse. When asked about the summer months (July-August), I was told there just isn't any food to inspect or sort. Summer tends to be the time of year that people are preoccupied with other plans and the staff encourages people looking to host a food drive, to do so during the spring months to help offset the gap in donations. You can even contact MVFB for ideas on how to coordinate your food drive with the season. You can also contact MVFB if you would like to take part in or volunteer for one of their scheduled events.

Learning about Merrimack Valley Food Bank and all the wonderful programs they offer to those living with hunger was incredible. A special thank you to Amy Pessia Executive Director of MVFB and Danielle Bergeron Secretary on the Board of Directors, Fundraiser Committe for Grape Expection & Fall Pantry Raid and the Advisor for MVFB's Social Media Efforts, for taking the time to meet with me and share a piece of what they do every day. Please use the contact information below to contact Merrimack Valley Food Bank, volunteer for one of their events or make a donation to support their efforts.

Merrimack Valley Food Bank

978-454-7272

www.mvfb.org

MVFB on Facebook

MVFB on Twitter

Cookies And Sheep Revisited

2011-05-09T20:56:00.000-04:00

Once again, Cookie Central will host a Great American Bake Sale at North Andover's Sheep Shearing Festival and Craft Fair. Last year's event was full of sweet treats, sheep shearing and a 4 child flash mob...which was adorable for the record. While we will be short a flash mob, we will still have a great assortment of goodies and will take another whack at Great American Bake Sales "Take Your Best Shot" contest. This is a kid friendly event! So pack up the rugrats and come enjoy local vendors, face painting, crafters and entertainment.

We are also thrilled to announce we will be raffling off 4 tickets to the Lowell Spinners Juvenile Diabetes Awareness Night on Saturday, June 18th!

This game is sponsored by a great supporter of Cookie Central's 2011 Great American Bake Sale, Tompkins Corporation. A donation for the tickets has been made to Tompkins Corporation's Campaign for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. If you can't make it to the event but want to enter the raffle, we are accepting online donations on Cookie Central's Team Page! Please make sure you include "SSF" (example: Michele Gorham "SSF") when entering your name so we know where you came from :)

Join Us

Sunday, May 22nd

11-4

North Andover's Sheep Shearing and Craft Festival

at

The North Andover Common

(intersection of Osgood & Mass Ave.)

Our Bake Sale Debotchery

2011-05-03T16:18:00.000-04:00

I wish I were sitting here today writing about what an enormous success our first bake sale of the season was. I wish I could say our message about No Kid Hungry was received with open arms. I wish that all the product actually made it to the event....I wish. The funny thing is, I felt like this bake sale just fell right into place. We secured a great location at an awesome event, our product kicked some serious butt and the weather was perfect. But things have a tendency to turn in the wrong, I guess.

Car packed, off I go with my little helper for today my 4 year old daughter Mia. Not 2 feet out of the driveway and down go the decorated tulip cookies pops all over the floor of my car. Absolute shambles, not one can be saved. "No matter", I thought. We had plenty of product and if the tulips could be considered an offering to the joo-joo gods I was more than okay with that. Time to set up. What's this? I forgot to bring half of the tiers (the half that holds the plates)? UHG! "No Matter", I thought. I had extra plates, so I could at least get my stuff on the table....the Take Your Best Shot contest would just have to wait. So there we sat, Mia and I, behind our (anything but elegant looking) table ready for the days adventures. Our battle with the sun begins! I will take full responsibility for ths one. I made a rookie mistake and forgot to bring any sort of tent or umbrella for my poor little confections. And sure enough, just like I new they would, the bags started to fog up and then condensate. Okay, not the end of the world, we'll just toss out a few of each product, explain that they are for display and let everyone know we have unscathed product under the table. So there we sat, Mia and I, behind our practically barren table of melting product. Pretty pitiful looking pair we were (haha).

I do want to stop for a moment and say we had a handful of pretty incredible people stop by our table. Like the family with 3 or 4 girls who went above and beyond to really make our day and the guy and his son who share the most amazing story of a boy who fought cancer and won.

Dirty looks and laughing? Never in all my bake sales have I ever had so many people walk by with looks of disgust! I even had a couple people flat out laugh at me. And for all those nay sayers that actually came up to my table to heckle, just want to repeat....YES, I do care about the millions of children in our country that don't know where there next meal will come from. YES, I will do more than I ever thought I could to make a difference. And NO, this is NOT a scam!

Time to go home...finally! I'll admit, I packed it in about a half hour early because I just couldn't take it anymore. I had a bunch (well more than half my product) left over and my thoughts were focused on what in the world I would do with it all. The cookies, bars and granola would keep long enough for me to make up some nice boxes (nothing says sponsor my Great American Golf Tournament like a box of fresh baked cookies). And the tray of untouched cupcakes (ladybugs, flowers and butterflies) would make a really nice touch at the Lazarus House's dinner that night. I'm happy to say we ended the day just like we started, only this time it was the cupcakes strewn across the floor of my car...frosting is a nightmare to get out of carpet just for the record.

All in all, we pulled in around $200 for the day. A far cry from a total bust, but we certainly did it the hard way. And I do have to give my daughter Mia a virtual standing ovation! She stuck it out for the 6 hours we were there like a trooper. She's phenomenal and I'm lucky to be her mom. With all the blunders I must say any Great American Bake Sale is a success in a way. There are always those one or two people that really listen, really empethize with the children at risk of hunger in our country, really...get it. And even if you make $5.00 on the day, that is still more than so many people do in a lifetime. So I would like to dedicate this blog to anyone who's hosted a Bake Sale and bombed. Don't let a less than perfect day discourage you. A difference, no matter how small, is a difference that would not have otherwise been made! My focus has now turned to our next event on May 22nd at the North Andover Sheep Shearing festival, which was one of our best events last year. "Keep Moving Forward"

A Day For Kids!

2011-04-22T20:28:00.000-04:00

We are adding a last minute event to our bake sale schedule! Thanks to the wonderful follks at Lounge 59 (Haverhill, MA), we will have a space to set up right on Washington Street (59 Washington Street to be exact) during Haverhill's KidsFEST 2011. If you have children, this is the ultimate festival for you!

Please Join Us At:

KidsFEST

Sunday, May 1st

11-4

59 Washington Street
Haverhill, MA

(rain date Sunday, May 15th)

"Vendors line the downtown streets, selling food and toys, service clubs and downtown vendors provide fun events and activities for kids inside their stores and outside on the sidewalk. It’s fun for all ages and families!

The Laurie Chase KidsFEST is a Haverhill Tradition that directly benefits the children and families of Haverhill and surrounding communities."

For More Info & An Area Map Please Visit
KidsFest 2011

~

Take The Pledge Rally

2011-04-17T08:28:00.000-04:00

*Take The Pledge Rally*

April 17th-May 15th

We will donate $1 for every Facebook Fan that takes the No Kid Hungry Pledge between April 17th and May 15th!

There is no cost to take No Kid Hungry Pledge

Simply click the banner above, take the pledge
and post to our Fan Page Wall
"I took the Pledge"

The No Kid Hungry Pledge

I believe that no child in America should go hungry.
By pledging today, I add my voice to the national movement of people
committed to ending childhood hunger in America by 2015.

I pledge to do more than I ever thought
I could to help children gain access to the
healthy food they need to grow and thrive.

I will help make the invisible hunger visible for my neighbors,
my family, and our local, state, and national leaders.

By uniting my voice with thousands of others,
I believe that we can make No Kid Hungry a reality

~

Note* You must be a Facebook fan to participate in this promotion.
Not a fan? Like us today at Cookie Central's Fan Page

~

**Cookie Central will donate up to $500 on this camaign**
(You may be thinking why so little. Well, we are a small time cookie shop, just me in fact, and have only so much at our disposal. If it really, really bothers you, please feel free to match our final number!)

~

And The Winner Is!

2011-04-16T09:52:00.001-04:00

Dollar Days: An Online Raffle was the first of four online promotions for Cookie Central's 3rd Annual Great American Bake Sale. With the money we raised through this promotion, Share Our Strength can help to feed 20 children for over a month.

A special thank you to everyone who as participated in our Great American Bake Sale so far!!

And The Winner Is!

For Food Lovers And No Kid Hungry

2011-04-15T19:52:00.002-04:00

Last night my husband and I were fortunate enough to attend The Taste Of The Nation Boston for the first time. What an absolutely incredible event! Food and drink as far as the eye can see, and all for No Kid Hungry. Now, if you're like me and love food to the point people think you have some serious issues, than this is the culinary event for you. Not in the Boston area? Not to worry! Taste Of The Nation events are held across the country. Find event dates at Taste Of The Nation.

Best food of the night:

Unfortunately the bag with the business cards I snagged (and the ticket I won for TOTN 2012 D:) is MIA, so we are now banking on the assistance of those reading this blog to offer up any information as to where we can find some of this glorious food.

Maple Whoopie Pie (Maybe South End Buttery?): I believe "Holy crap" may sum up how incredible this whoopie pie was. If I was shameless I would have just hovered over this table eating whoopie pies all night. The station was a create your own whoopie and if anyone who attended has information on who this company is I (and my waistline) will be more than grateful!
Meatballs & Marscapone (My hubby is thinking from Church): These guys were my husband's favorite of the night....and the cause for dispute on the way home over which plate was the best of the best.
Mojito Cupcake from Kick Ass Cupcakes. I went over to "taste the competition" and almost fell over when I found out how good this cupcake is. If your in the Davis Square section of Somerville check them out!
Sliders (Which I can only assume came from Red Bones): Oh the lucky people of Somerville! Again in Davis square, apparently a wealth of awesome eats.

On and on I could go, but really the only way to truly appreciate this event is to attend yourself AND if you want to really spice up your night, opt for the early admission tickets which will get you into a private seating area complete with premium mixed cocktails, VIP raffle and more. What's more, 100% of the ticket sales go directly to Share Our Strength's efforts to end childhood hunger in America by 2015.

The Highlight Of My Night:

There I was, shoveling mass quantities of food in my pie hole, when who do I look up and see? Non other than Billy Shore himself. Now, at the risk of seeming partially unstable, I will admit that we circled him like vultures for a few minutes before making our way in to say hello. But when we finally initiated a conversation, Billy was incredibly kind and patient listening to the ramblings of some couple from North Andover go on and on about how great we think he and Share Our Strength is. He even took the time to snap a picture with The Cookie Lady (me), complete with instructions from my (seemingly) photographer of a husband. And should Billy Shore happen to stumble across this blog someday, I would like to extend my sincerest thanks...it really did mean the world to me.

A Night Of Laughs For No Kid Hungry

2011-04-04T22:51:00.002-04:00

Funny the way social media works. People you may have never met, but work all of 1 mile away, suddenly jump into your life, only to make a huge difference instantaneously.

We were contacted by Chris Flahive owner/partner of Chuckles Comedy Club (@ China Blossom) via Facebook. Chris had caught wind of our Great American Bake Sale through another social media platform the North Andover Patch and made the decision to help us in the fight against childhood hunger in America. Chuckles Comedy Club will be donating $5.00 to our Great American Bake Sale if you mention Cookie Central when purchasing your ticket on this coming Friday's event (4/8/2011). But wait, it gets better!! The event will be plugged on 105.7's Loren & Wally show (you know, Men From Maine...classic!) Friday morning. I'd like to stop here, but it gets just a little better. This week is The Cookie Lady's (me) birthday week {Yes, I do get a whole week}! So needless to say, I will be celebrating my birthday at Chuckles Comedy Club on Friday and everyone who attends, be they friend or foe, will be participating in our 2011 Great American Bake Sale. I believe the coined phrase "Life Is Good" applies.

For everyone who would like to join the fight against childhood hunger in America, celebrate The Cookie Lady being just a little bit older or both! Please join us at:

Chuckles Comedy Club

(@ China Blossom)

Friday, April 8th

8:00-On

946 Osgood Street

North Andover, MA 01845

(tickets are $20.00, $5 of which will be donated)

A Thank You And A New Event!

2011-03-24T13:53:00.001-04:00

The Haverhill Taste Of The Town this past Saturday was a smashing success! We had some extraordinary people visit our table this year and it was great to have the opportunity to talk about Cookie Central and our 3rd Annual Great American Bake Sale campaign.

43 Dollar Days raffle tickets were sold along with a few No Kid Hungry cookies and Share Our Strength cookie pops. If you were one of the wonderful people who donate please check back in here, on our YouTube Channel, our Facebook Fan Page or our Twitter Stream for the video of the raffle drawing to be posted on April 16th!

For everyone who came by THANK YOU!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We're Teaming Up!

That's right, Cookie Central is hoping on the bandwagon of another Great American Bake Sale!

It's always exciting when we meet people who are as moved by Share Our Strength's mission to end childhood hunger in the U.S. as we are. Lo and behold we found someone right here in our home town. The lovely Wendi Roy is the epitome of the Super Mom. With 3 awesome girls, this blogger behind Anyone Can Cook and contributor to North Andover Patch, finds the time to sell Pampered Chef products all while holding down a full time job...incredible!

We are thrilled to be volunteering at Wendi's Great American Bake Sale:

Anyone Can Help End Childhood Hunger

Tuesday, March 29th

11-2

35 Village Road

SAS Institute Inc., Middleton, MA

If you are in the Middleton area please come by for some incredible goodies (trust me I know what's on the menu). You'll find us right in the lobby of the SAS Institute building (located next to Coco Key).

Can't Make Wendi's Bake Sale?

You can still donate to Wendi's campaign on her Team Page

Check out Wendi on Pampered Chef.

15% of any sales from THIS LINK will be donated to the cause!

~0~

Dollar Days: An Online Raffle To End Childhood Hunger

2011-03-03T22:10:00.000-05:00

It's game time people! We are officially kicking off our 2011 Great American Bake Sale season with

*Dollar Days*

March 10th-April 10th

By donating $1 to
Cookie Central's 3rd Annual Great American Bake Sale

you will be entered to win a $50.00 Gift Basket!

How It Works:

Raffle tickets are $1.00

To purchase a virtual raffle ticket:

Visit The Cookie Central Team Page and click the Donate Now button to make your $1 donation
Remember to include "DD" with you're name so we can keep track of you
Leave you're email address in the area that says "Personal Note"
We will fill out a raffle ticket in your name and drop it into the No Kid Hungry water jug

Sample Screen Shot For Anyone Who Is Confused

Join us March 19th at The Haverhill Taste Of The Town (BJs Wholesale Club) from 11-2 and

purchase your raffle ticket at our table!

(free samples!!)

The Winner Will Be Announced

We will be announcing the winner of this raffle April 16th via our YouTube Channel!

(Please don't laugh at our pitiful channel)

I will speak for a minute or so about how this new promotion went and what Share Our Strength can do with the funds we raised all while the neighborhood kids shake (vigorously assuming) the No Kid Hungry water jug. The children will then pick one ticket from the jug and announce to the world the winner of Dollar Days! We will all rejoice and feel good about taking one step closer in the fight against childhood hunger in America.

Questions You May Have

Can I buy more than one raffle ticket?

YES! You can buy as many as you would like! You will receive a raffle ticket for every dollar you donate

Can the winning basket be shipped?

Absolutely!

Can I replace the basket with a gift certificate?

Yes! Our gift certificates do not expire and can be split and used over the course of time

Why do I need to leave my email?
We will use this to contact you if you win (and ONLY if you win). If you do not want to leave your email it will be your responsibility to check the YouTube Channel, this blog or our main site to see if you have won.

The Haverhill Taste Of The Town

2011-02-25T12:12:00.000-05:00

"The Haverhill Taste Of The Town"

Hosted By BJs Wholesale Club

Saturday, March 19th

11:00-2:00 PM

BJs Wholesale Club

25 Shelly Road

Haverhill, MA 01832

Some of our best sweets will be available for sampling at

The Haverhill Taste Of The Town.

We welcome you to stop by this public event to try some of our goodies and pick up some information about our 3rd Annual Great American Bake Sale.

The event will also feature delectable free samples from area food vendors.

Dollar Days Raffle Tickets Will Be Available At This Event!

Purchase a $1.00 raffle ticket and be entered in to win a $50.00 gift basket from Cookie Central!

Cookie Central Visits Lazarus House

2011-02-21T22:05:00.001-05:00

I met Dennis McCarthy from Lazarus House at a recent Friends Of Kevin networking event. Were it not for the shred of class I have, there would have been visions of me barreling on top of people to make my way across the crowded room to meet Dennis. You see, I knew two things:

I am passionate about fighting to end childhood hunger in America and have been looking for a way to get more involved locally.
Dennis was representing Lazarus House, which, at the time, I understood to be a local food pantry. (Boy was I wrong!)

The funniest thing was, when I finally got the chance to speak with Dennis, we didn't really speak at all. He handed me a card and said to set up a tour. I am so incredibly happy I set up that tour! Until today, my understanding of Lazarus House was naive. I am floored by how vastly they impact our community and how progressive the programs they offer are.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our tour began at Lazarus House, a shelter located in the Arlinton District of Lawrence, MA. The house, opened in 1983, provides homeless families and individuals food, a bed and a roof over their heads. But the home doesn't stop there. They provide people with the resources to create a life for themselves, in fact they insist on it. The folks behind Lazarus House understand that good people land in unfortunate situations, but they also know that a hand out can only get someone so far...what people really need is a hand up. By providing the residents of the shelter with things like daycare, educational classes, job assistance, money management...the list really goes on and on...and on, they allow the residence to focus on something that will benefit them more than a simple handout, bulding a future. Curious what the success rate of building that future is? 92%

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part of Lazarus House's programs is St. Martha's Food Pantry. Their goal?

" To provide food to anyone who is hungry and comes to our door. To eliminate hunger within our community so that people are better able to face their other daily challenges - sustaining housing, paying rent, pursuing jobs, and completing educations."
Here, people can come on Wednesdays and receive a bag containing up to 4 days worth of food. Bagged luches are also available. So, how many families does St. Martha's Pantry provide food to during an average week? As Dennis says, the number has gone up (as you can imagine in this economy) to approximately 600 families per week....a staggering number.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another food program offered by Lazarus House is Good Shephard Soup Kitchen. Monday through Friday between May-October and 7 days a week from November-April, a continental breakfast and hot lunch are served. This kitchen is open to the public and the food that is provided is obtained exclusively through donations!

You can also find a Lazarus House Soup Truck on Friday and Saturday nights handing out food, blankets, gloves and hats durning the months of January, February and March.

In all, Lazarus House's food prgrams help to feed approximately 8000 people a month...
again, staggering!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My blog could very quickly become a novel with all the amazing things I learned today. What I can say for certain is that I look forward to volunteering for this organization. I look forward to participating in their events. And I hope that they continue to be the anchor in the lives of so many people in this community. If you live in my area (The Merrimack Valley) please, please, please set up a tour! This tour gave me such an honest grasp of what this organization does for so many people and how much their organization is really needed.

Thank you so, so very much for reading! ~ Michele :)

=========================================

Lazarus House Ministries

www.LazarusHouse.org

978-689-8575

Cookie Central's 3rd Annual Great American Bake Sale Update!

2011-02-18T13:14:00.001-05:00

Our Great american Bake Sale season is kicking off in 10 days and we at Cookie Central are so excited to be commencing this annual event with the Online Raffle "Dollar Days" on March 10th! We will be posting all the specifics with links when we get our 2011 Cookie Central Team Page up and running, but let's just say it's going to be super fun!

I have also posted an updated overview of what (and when) to expect for other great promotions and events we have on the docket. Many of the dates need finalization...out of our little hands at this time, but We will be updating as dates and times are set, so please check back!

Online Events:

Dollar Days: An Online Raffle (March/April)

Donate $1 and be entered to win a $50.00 Gift Basket from Cookie Central

Take The Pledge Rally (April/May)

We will donate $1 for every Facebook Fan that takes the No Kid Hungry Pledge! Simply visit http://nokidhungry.org/ take the pledge, post it to our Fan Page Wall and we will donate a dollar on your behalf.
Not a fan? Like us today at Cookie Central's Fan Page

Donate & Save: The Give and Get Event (May/June)

Donate $5 and receive a 5% off coupon
Donate $10 and receive a 15% off coupon

Cookies With Care (June/July)

Send a Care Package with love and 100% of the money will go towards our 2011 GABS
Care Package options

1 Dozen Chocolate Chip Cookies ~ $10.00
1/2 Pan Classic Brownies ~ $15.00
1 1/2 Dozen Chocolate Chip Cookies & 4 Classic Brownies ~ $20.00

Events In and Around Town

April:
We're working on it :)

May:
North Andover's Sheep Shearing & Craft Festival
On The Common
North Andover, MA
Date: TBD

June:
We're working on this one too :)

July:
North Andover's 4th of July Celebrations
On The Coomon
North Andover, MA
Date: TBD

September:
Great American Golf Tournament
Merrimack Valley Golf Club
Howe Street
Methuen, MA
Monday, September 26th

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Want to get involved? Call or email me!
Michele Gorham
978-423-1215
mycookiecentral@gmail.com

~~

We Are Taking The Food Stamp Challenge

2011-01-27T21:26:00.000-05:00

My oldest daughter and I are in the midst of The Food Stamp Challenge, hosted by Maryland Hunger Solutions. The challenge is to eat for one week with the average food supplemental benefit allotted by the state of Maryland...$30 per person.

Dinner #1 Broiled Chicken with
rice and frozen veggies. My daughter was sent to
school with leftovers as her luch
(which is common practice for us)

Sunday afternoon I went to the market. I had a plan, I was optimistic, I was ready to begin The Food Stamp Challenge. This lasted about 15 seconds into my shopping excursion. I started in the produce section (where I always begin my shopping) and quickly realized that fresh produce is dang expensive! In my pretty little, perfect plan I planned to spread out my purchases; $15 for meat, $5 for produce, $10 for everything else. Yeah, that plan went quickly out the window. One hour I spent in the market, an all time record in my books, going back and forth from isle to isle, putting things back, replacing the name brand products with generic and still I left that day with one bag, just one.

Dinner # 2 Chicken and rice soup
made from the left overs of the night
before

Now, when I first signed on to this challenge I was under the impression (I've never been good at reading instructions) that the $30 was for our entire family. When I received the email on Monday stating it was $30 per person I was ecstatic. I mean, screamed out of my dads house to the market. Again I had a plan and again I was optimistic, after all an extra thirty dollars? That was HUGE! Once again I left the market disappointed. This time, even though I had bought all staple supplies, the one bag I left with wasn't even full.

Dinner # 3 Meatloaf with frozen
green beans and rice.
For the record, making meatloaf
without eggs really, really stinks!

You may be thinking, "That's not so bad." And I'll be honest, when I looked at the food I had to work with I didn't think so either. But here we are on Day 5 and all the food has been cooked and we are looking at leftovers (sparse leftovers at that) for the remainder of the week. Here's hoping they will last. And for the record, I certainly won't starve my child should we completely run out of food ( a choice I'm feeling very fortunately to have).

Dinner #4 Chili
Used the remaining ground beef, meatloaf,
beans and tomato sauce. This will be the
last dinner I cook as we are now out of food.
Hoping the leftovers hold out.
I must commend my daughter for sticking with it. She's a real trooper and I admire everything she has done this week. We were both at each other's throats today, bickering over stupid little things like "You spilled water on my shoe!". We're both exhausted and hungry. I killed me to hear her say (repeatedly) "Mommy, I'm Hungry" and have to tell her "Sorry kiddo, if we eat now we won't have enough food for dinner." I promised her a feast of Tacos and Ice Cream Sundaes next week for all she's been through...then felt guilty because people living on Food Stamps never get that option.

How much did I spend for me and my daughter? $59.50

(and don't think I wasn't trying to find something for 50 cents all week)

What we got for our money:

4.75 lbs. Ground Beef on sale at almost 50% off (75% lean...wicked healthy, I know)
4.45 lbs. Roaster Chicken
3 Cans of Beans
1 Box of Pasta
Small Bag of Long Grain Rice
1 Can Crushed Tomatoes
1 Can Tomato Sauce
1 Small Container of Grated Cheese
1 Packaged Cheese Slices
1 Large Bag Frozen of Mixed Veggies
1 Large Bag Frozen Green Beans
1 Jar Peanut Butter
1 Jar Jelly
1 Loaf Bread
5 Bananas
1 Onion
1 Garlic (are they called heads of garlic?)
1 Box of generic Cheerios (which weren't half bad)
1 Small container of Oatmeal
1 Jar Applesauce
1 LB. Coffee (the only reason I pulled this off is because it was on sale for $3.99)
1 Gallon Milk
1 Apple (a surprise for my daughter...how sad is that)

What we put back:

Grapes
Celery
Carrots
Frozen Broccoli
Tomato Paste
Pork
The Bigger Roaster Chicken
Chicken Broth

What We Replaced For Generic Brands:
Everything that came with a label...with the exception of the beans (Goya was on sale)

Looking back, things I wouldn't have bought:

Generic grated cheese ~ It's just plain gross! Save your 89 cents and buy a piece of fruit
The $1 Box of cereal ~ Cheap yes, yummy yes, but this "breakfast for the week" lasted less than half a week
The Third can of beans ~ Yummy yes, but with the 67 cents I could have bought a second apple

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About Maryland Hugner Solutions

"The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) established Maryland Hunger Solutions (MDHS) as a project to fight hunger and improve the nutrition, health, and well-being of children and families in Maryland. The initiative was launched in the fall of 2007 and is modeled on the successful D.C. Hunger Solutions (DCHS) Initiative that began in 2002."

Find out more about Maryland Hunger Solutions on their main site http://www.MDHungerSolutions.org/

Cookies For A Cause: Our No Kid Hungry Line Of Cookies

2011-01-23T11:40:00.000-05:00

Year round, Share Our Strength works to provide children with nutritious food where they live, learn and play. They do this by working with states to incorporate functional and assessable feeding programs to children at risk of hunger, through the 5 campaigns they host; Great American Bake Sale, Great American Dine Out, Taste of the Nation, A Tasteful Pursuit and Cooking Matters (formally Operation Frontline) and with the new No Kid Hungry campaign.

Why all this information you ask? We are hoping to accomplish something very simple; Raise awareness of an enormous problem in our country...child hunger. Currently there are over 10 million children that are at risk of hunger in America, nearly 1-5. One of the biggest problems is, many families at risk simply do not know of available feeding programs already available in their communities. Share Our Strength works to find new ways to not only create feeding programs, but to ensure they are publicized and assessable to those that really need them.

Please Help Us To Help Make A Difference!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No Kid Hungry Cookies
For $1.00 you can add a No Kid Hungry cookie to your next order and feel good knowing that your dollar (yes all of it) will help in the fight against childhood hunger in America.
We are proud to be offering these cookies with or without an additional order all year long!
How Far Can A Dollar Go? With one dollar Share Our Strength can help connect a child with 10 meals!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No Kid Hungry Cookie BoxesAt $4.00 these wonderful kraft boxes are the perfect gift to let friends and family know you to are helping to fight childhood hunger in America!

Each box comes with three No Kid Hungry cookies and offer a diplay window to show off the No Kid Hungry mission.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Share Our Strength Cookie Pops
For $2.00 you can add a Share Our Strength Cookie Pop to your order. Great for favors at a child's birthday party or your next event.
These cookie pops are our signature sugar cookie rolled and pressed with Share Our Strength, the name of our nations leading organization committed to ending childhood hunger in America.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To Order:

Please email us at

MyCookieCentral@gmail.com

or Call

978~423~1215

BJs Taste Of The Town (Salem, NH)

2011-01-18T18:50:00.001-05:00

I would like to extend my thanks to all who attended BJs Wholesale Club's Taste Of The Town this past Saturday. We had a great time meeting and greeting with BJs members and were able to spread the word about our upcoming Great American Bake Sale season. I was thrilled by how receptive people were to our plans for 2011 and how attentively everyone listened to me speak about Share Our Strength, No Kid Hungry and the fight to end childhood hunger in America.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope those of you I had the chance to speak with will continue to follow along with our events specials and promotions! For anyone I didn't have a chance to speak with, I welcome you to contact me via email or by phone to discuss our plans further...or keep up-to-date by following our blog of course :)

I will say, my only disappointment of the day was that I didn't get one picture! We had a great display and the No Kid Hungry cookie boxes (soon to be found as a part of our menu) looked fantastic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a surprising turn of events, I am proud to say the No Kid Hungry Cookies and No Kid Hungry cookie boxes were long gone before the end of the event! It was never my intention to sell out, as I assumed the cookies and boxes would be considered more of a display with all the free samples we were offering. I'll make a personal note to bring more for our next event.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As you can imagine, we have our hands full over here and are always looking for volunteers. If you are interested in joining the Cookie Central Team please do not hesitate to contact me! There are positions open for all age groups, especially for our bake sale finale the Great American Golf Tournament.

So the day in it's entirety was a smashing success! Thank you again to everyone who visited our table. I look forward to seeing many of you again at one of our bake.

All the best and thank you for reading,

Michele Gorham :)

A Look At Cookie Central's 2011 Great American Bake Sale

2011-01-04T22:50:00.000-05:00

Great American Bake Sale season hasn't quite begun yet. In fact, it doesn't start until March 1st! But we over here at Cookie Central are planning and prepping for another fantastic season fundraising for Share Our Strength. We already have a couple of definite plans, a few in the works and a whole slew of possibilities. Please check out what we have on the drawing board and let us know what you think, if you have any good contacts that would help us on our way or suggestions to help us better this years campaign. Thanks and have a great rest of your day! ~ Michele Gorham

*NO KID HUNGRY COOKIES*

$1.00
Cookie Central is now offering these wonderful sugar cookies pressed with Share Our Strength's mission "No Kid Hungry"

For $1.00 you can add a No Kid Hungry cookie to your next order and feel good knowing that your dollar (yes all of it) will help in the
fight against childhood hunger in America.

We are proud to be offering these cookies
with or without an additional order all year long!

How Far Can A Dollar Go?

With one dollar

Share Our Strength can help connect a child with 10 meals!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Salem Taste Of The Town

Date: Saturday, January 15th

Time: 11:00am – 2:00pm

Location:BJ’s Wholesale Club

in Salem, NH.

Join Cookie Central at BJs Wholesale Club in Salem, NH for bite-sized samples off our menu!

We will be promoting our upcoming 2011 Great American Bake Sale season and selling special cookies to raise money to help end childhood hunger in America.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Great American Golf Tournament?

That's right folks! We have in the works a golf tournament thanks to my wonderful husband who I'm not quite as mad at for playing so many rounds any more. We are just beginning the planning, but it looks to be a definite addition (as well as the kicker) to this years events! We plan to have set dates, locations and the like ready for March 1st, with the scheduled event falling in September.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Possible New Sponsor!

Okay more definite than possible, we just haven't hashed out the details yet, but MerchantCircle is on board! If you didn't already know, I am a Community Leader and Forum Moderator for this rapidly growing small business networking/marketing/social media site (I must be doing a good job). I will be updating as the news comes in what kind of (and how big) of a part they will be playing in CC's 2011 GABS...but I have a feeling it's gonna be HUGE!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Online Events!

We are hoping for as much success online this year as we did last year and have planned out serveral campaigns that will run over the course of our 7 month (geeze, did I just tack on 3 more months from last year?) campaign. To give a brief, and I really mean brief, overview; expect to see Dollar Days, Cookie Gift Boxes To End Child Hunger, Donate and Save, The Recruit Contest. Curious as to what all these mean? Follow the blog, read my tweets, fan me on Facebook, give me your first born! What I really mean to say is connect with me, stay in touch and stay tuned for a very exciting online rollercoaster.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Big Possibilities For 2011

Our wish list for this year is slightly longer than last year, but we are after all attempting to fill the 3 extra with No Kid Hungry fun and excitement. To accomplish these events we will need help, maybe your help? Mostly contacts, referrals and introductions, anything that will get our foot in the door. If you have any reputation with the below we would be ever so grateful for your help!

*please & thank you*

Andover Days: We are hoping to coordinate a few businesses to sell decorated No Kid Hungry star cookie pops during the days events. All products, displays and promotional items will be provided by us (Cookie Central). If you know an Andover shop owner that you think may be interested in participating please let me know!
Cookies & Meat: Okay maybe I have to work on that name a little, but the idea is pretty simple. We are hoping to piggy back a bake sale event on either a wine tasting at the Vinyard (North Andover) or BBQ with The Meat House (same shop)....or BOTH! If you have contacts at The Vinyard or The Meathouse I would forever be grateful for an introduction.
Heavn'ly Cookies: Are you a St. Michael's parishioner? Would you be willing to help us organize a bake sale through the church? The hope is to host at least one event this year that is "All About The Kids". Cookie & cupcake decorating tables, a magician, face painting...kid stuff! I'm also working my husband to come down in his firefighter gear (maybe with a piece of apparatus?).

If you think you could help us out with any of the above please contact me!

Michele Gorham

978~423~1215

mycookiecentral@gmail.com

Share Our Holiday Table - Potato Leek Soup

2010-12-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

Click The Logo and Help A Hungry Child Today!

Many of you reading this blog today are doing so as a part of Share Our Strength's Share Our Holiday Table...I commend you! For those of you, however, that may have stumbled here by the graces of fate, please know that you are taking part in a phenomenal virtual dinner comprised of 50 bloggers from across the country designed to help raise awareness for childhood hunger in America and Share Our Strength, the nation's leading organization committed to ending childhood hunger in the U.S. by 2015.

The hope is that each reader will not only find wonderful recipes, but gain the knowledge and understanding of an enormous problem our country faces...childhood hunger. More than 50 million Americans struggle to put food on the table. More than 17 million of those affected are children. I ask that you take from this blog, a recipe yes, but more importantly the knowledge that you too can make a difference. I encourage every reader to explore the campaigns Share Our Strength offers. You will find that there really is something for anyone who wants to make a difference be it attending a Taste Of The Nation or Great American Bake Sale, eating at a favorite local restaurant as part of Great American Dine Out or being involved online through the No Kid Hungry campaign. Childhood hunger is a problem that can be fixed. We at Cookie Central have taken the No Kid Hungry Pledge... will you?
~
Thank you for taking the time to read our blog and thank you for participating in Share Our Strength's Share Our Holiday Table.

Warmest Regards,
Michele Gorham

I believe that no child in America should go hungry.
By pledging today, I add my voice to the
national movement of people committed to
ending childhood hunger in America by 2015.

Potato Leek Soup
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Serves: Many!

With the holidays in full swing it's my pleasure to share with you a recipe that has meandered it's way into the hearts of my family and friends and is a staple to almost every party I host....Potato Leek Soup! My love affair with this soup started almost 10 years ago in an Irish pub tucked down a city alley. For almost a year, I would sit every Saturday morning dipping brown bread into an enormous bowl of this rich and creamy goodness. The pub eventually closed, leaving me feeling a little lost...and very motivated. I spent months trying to replicate the soup I loved, until I eventually stumbled across a recipe that surpassed that of my beloved pub soup.

This exquisite little soup can appease everyone from the guys tailgating before a great Pats game, to a house full of guests, to my mother-in-law (a feat in itself). You'll find this recipe is not only easy, but will give you an opportunity to invite your children into the kitchen which is how making this soup became a tradition in our household. I welcome you to save, share and love this recipe as much as we do!

Ingredients:

4 Sticks of Unsalted Butter
4-5 Leeks (depending on size) cleaned and sliced
5lbs. Yukon Potatoes peeled and cubed
2 Qt. Chicken Broth
2 Tbsp. Cornstarch
2qts. Heavy Cream
Scallions, sliced (for garnish, optional)
Crumbled Bacon (for garnish, optional)
Kosher Salt & Cracked Pepper

Directions:

Melt 2 sticks of butter in a LARGE pot over medium heat. Add leeks. Cook, stirring occasionally, until leeks are tender; approximately 10-15 minutes. Season with salt & pepper.
While leeks are cooking, stir together cornstarch and chicken broth. Add broth and potatoes to leek mixture and season with salt & pepper. Bring to boil.
Add cream. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until potatoes are fork tender; approximately 20-30 minutes. Blend, baby, blend!
Season (for the last time I promise), garnish with scallions and serve hot!

Big Kids Can Help With A
Kid-Safe Peeler!

Little Fingers Can Be Kept Busy
With A Wet Paper Towel!

Notes**

Clean those leeks well! Do this by separating the leaves and wiping them down with a damp paper towel or soaking them in potable ice water for 5-10 minute (don't forget to dry those suckers before you drop them in the pot!)
Trim off the tough, bitter green parts of the leek
Having a handheld blender is handy is you want a nice smooth soup (although the old-fashion hand masher works just fine)
You will season the whole way through, so easy does it!
Freeze it! This recipe make quite a bit. You can cut it down, but I always opt to go with freezing some for a later day. Remember when freezing to leave about 1/4 or so of the container empty to account for the soup's expansion.

Share Our Holiday Table: Build An Incredible Meal With These Links

Appetizers (12/6)

Gourmet: Italian Dish, Recipe Girl, Neo-Homesteading

Family-Friendly: Family Fresh Cooking, Giving Up On Perfect

Vegetarian: Two Peas and Their Pod, Smith Bites

Gluten Free: Wenderly, La Fuji Mama

Drinks (12/7)

Gourmet: Food Woolf, The Gringo Chapin, Neo-Homesteading
Family-Friendly: Three Many Cooks, Fat Wuz Here

Vegetarian: Lexie's Kitchen, Simply Sugar and Gluten Free

Gluten Free: Gluten Free Easily

Salads (12/8)
Gourmet: The Bitten Word, Girli Chef
Family-Friendly: Food For My Family, Cook It Allergy Free
Vegetarian: Book Of Yum, Glugle Gluten Free
Gluten Free: Add A Pinch, Gluten Free Diva

Soups (12/9)
Gourmet: Tartlette, Edible Cville, The Runaway Spoon, A Girl A Market A Meal
Family-Friendly: Ladles and Jellyspoons, Two Dollar Dinners, All About Alton Brown
Vegetarian: Good Life Eats, Feed Our Families,
Gluten Free: Celiac Teens, Celiac In The House, Gluten Free Life with Jen, And Love It Too!

A Big Fat Thank You To Spokane Grapevine!

2010-12-07T22:19:00.000-05:00

I would like to send out a huge thank you to Monte Tareski, owner of Cascading Creations and blogger extraordinaire for Spokane Grapevine!

Regardless of the nearly 3,000 miles that separate us, Monte opened his blog to help us promote our portion of Share Our Strength's Share Our Holiday Table. It is because of the willingness of people to get involved, help spread the word and make a difference that Share Our Strength is the successful organization that it is today.

Thank you Monte, your support is invaluable!

Learn more about Cascading Creations, a family owned hardscaping and excavation company, or Spokane Grapevine, whose mission is to promote local businesses, artisans and events!

Cascading Creations

Airway Height, WA

Spokane Grapevine

Spokane, WA

We're Gearing Up For Share Our Holiday Table

2010-11-28T09:09:00.006-05:00

Monday, December 6th will kick off Share Our Strength's week long campaign Share Our Holiday Table. This virtual dinner will be comprised of over 40 food bloggers across the country working together to raise awareness for childhood hunger in America and Share Our Strength's No Kid Hungry campaign by blogging their favorite holiday recipes. The dinner will feature 7 Courses: Appetizers, Drinks, Salads, Soups, Entrees, Sides and Desserts with 4 Tracks: Gourmet, Gluten Free, Family-Friendly and Vegetarian. Each day of the event will feature a different course.

We will be blogging Thursday, December 9th with our favorite Potato Leek Soup Recipe and welcome everyone to read the blog, save and enjoy their recipe and learn about how Share Our Strength is working throughout the year to end child hunger in the U.S. Cookie Central will also be providing links to other participants in the event so readers can have access to multiple complete 7 course meals. Find more information and keep up-to-date with the event by visiting the Share Our Holiday Table page at

http://www.strength.org/ShareOurHolidayTable

Do More With Your Holiday Order!

2010-11-10T16:59:00.002-05:00

Share Our Strength Holiday Gift Tags

are now available with all Cookie Central orders!

By purchasing one of these $10.00 gift tags you are letting your friends and family know you too are making a difference in the fight to end childhood hunger in America!

100% of all sales will help feed hungry kids!

Complete with a matching envelope, these 5x7 tags have room to write your own personalized message making them the perfect addition to any gift.

We Will Be Sharing Our Holiday Table!

2010-11-07T17:13:00.002-05:00

This year Cookie Central will be participating in Share Our Strength's Share Our Holiday Table. This virtual dinner will consist of bloggers from across the country working together to raise awareness of child hunger in America as well as funds for Share Our Strength.

Starting Monday, December 6th and running through Tuesday December 14th bloggers will cover 7 courses sharing stories, recipes, information on the No Kid Hungry campaign and links to those who are participating.

We encourage any blogger who has a passion for food and the want to help end child hunger in America take part!

Find more information here

Share Our Strength's Conference of Leaders

2010-11-06T13:46:00.000-04:00

This year I was fortunate enough to be invited to speak on the "Social Media For Social Good" panel at Share Our Strength's Conference of Leaders in Washington D.C. To say the event left me inspired and humbled would be an understatement. I encourage everyone to watch the speech Billy Shore, founder of Share Our Strength, made during the awards ceremony. It encompasses everything that Share Our Strength is and works to achieve in this country everyday. Watch Billy Shores Speech HERE, get inspired then share with everyone you know and love!

During the social media session of the 2 day conference, our panel of 5 spoke to the attendees of this phenomenal event about the impact social media has had on Share Our Strength, new social media platforms we have discovered and utilized and our plans for the 2011 season. As a representative for Great American Bake Sale I focused on The Bake Sale Neighborhood, the new social media Ning network introduced to GABS by Share Our Strength just this year, as well as MerchantCircle, the primary site for all my marketing and promoting for my events.

The session was a success and I hope the attendees left with a better understanding of what possibilities are out there for participants and organizers for all of the SOS campaigns.

Cookie Central is Headed For Washington!

2010-09-14T20:24:00.000-04:00

October 17th & 18th, 2010

Cookie Central will close our doors and join

Share Our Strength at The Conference of Leaders in Washington D.C.

Share Our Strength has introduced a new social forum this year called The Bake Sale Neighborhood. This forum has been a platform for Great American Bake Sale participants to meet with others, share their knowledge and experiences with GABS and seek advise on every aspect of hosting a bake sale. The Bake Sale Neighborhood has been a huge success!

It is because of our involvment with The Bake Sale Neighborhood, Great American Bake Sale and the fight to end child hunger that Cookie Central (me :D) has been invited to join the panel of speakers representing The Bake Sale Neighborhood at this year's Conference of Leaders!

It is an honor that I have graciously accepted .

2010-07-28T08:50:00.001-04:00

THANKS TO:

THE METHUEN FIREFIGHTERS UNION LOCAL 1691

The city of Methuen that has been facing mass layoff of civil service workers. In fact, just two months ago 33 firefighters in Methuen held pink slips in their hands, unsure of what the outcome of the city budget would be....still they donated!

The generosity of the union during such a hard time shows their dedication to their community and the importance of our cause.

I would like to send a special thank you out to my husband Fred, a Methuen firefighter. With the $200.00 donation made by his Local 1691 Share Our Strength will be able to fill the backpacks of 50 children full of healthy food to feed them and their families for over a weekend!

2010-07-05T09:32:00.001-04:00

Thank You To Everyone Who Attended Our 2010 Great American Bake Sale

It was in the 90s, but still you came!

We had an amazing turnout, selling just about everything on our table! The days totals were almost $400.00 bringing our season total to over $2000.00, all of which will help feed hungry kids in America! We are looking forward to selling off the last of our product today and will update everyone with our final totals once we have them.

Success at the MFA!

2010-06-24T15:40:00.002-04:00

As I had mentioned in an earlier post...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The instructors and recruit class 187 of the Massachusetts Fire Academy in Stow, MA have joined our fight to end child hunger in America. This was only possible because of the involvement of the fabulous people at Jake's, the food service providers at the academy!

Jake's very generously offered to display our baked goods and signs in their shop, selling and collecting money brought in by the employees and recruits.

Over the course of a week we raised $115.00!

As if their (Jake's) assistance wasn't enough, they offered to donate the money from their desserts sold the final week of the session!
I am proud to announce they raised an additional $126.00 this final week!!

It is wonderful to have such great people stand behind such a great cause!

With their help our total raised is now just under $1700.00

2010-06-17T16:58:00.002-04:00

Join Us!

Cookie Central's 2010

Great American Bake Sale

Sunday, July 4th

10-4

The North Andover Common

100% of Money Raised Will Help Feed Kids

Find samples from our menu, a raffle to win your very own cookie basket and leave knowing YOU helped to end child hunger! This bake table will be the final event of our four month long campaign to help raise money for after school and summer food programs.

Help us to help feed the nearly 17 million children at risk of hunger!

Cookie Central's 2010 Great American Bake Sale is a partof Share Our Strength's national campaign to end child hunger in America by 2015

Thanks To The MFA, Recruit Class 187 & Erin (from Jake's)

2010-06-03T08:23:00.000-04:00

As many of you may already know, my husband Fred is attending The Massachusetts Firefighter Academy in Stow, MA.

As part of Team Cookie Central, Fred agreed to ask Erin from Jake's (the food services for the academy) if she would be interested in helping to sell baked product to end child hunger. Erin was not only willing, but has gone above and beyond letting me send down cookies and brownies on multiple occasions.

The instructors at the MFA and Recruit Class 187 have been extremely receptive to our cause, many donating a little more than asked or even without purchasing at all! All of us involved are incredibly excited to see the results and I will post as soon as we have a definite number!

Cookies & Sheep Update!

2010-05-25T09:37:00.001-04:00

I am pleased to announce that Cookies & Sheep has added an additional

$255.00 to Cookie Central's 2010 Great American Bake Sale!

The festival was full of food, family fun and cookies (of course)!

The biggest seller of the day were our Classic Brownie Boxes, with the Chocolate Chip Cookie 3 Pack close behind. My wonderful children and their friends danced The Cotton Eye Joe and we learned a little more about the importance of tents at outdoor festivals!

Thank you to everyone who volunteered their time to help us!

Don't Forget To Join Us!

2010-04-24T13:37:00.001-04:00

Sunday, May 23rd

10-4

The North Andover Sheep Shearing Festival

The North Andover Common

Enjoy sweets, treat and nearly 100 local crafters, pony ride and yes! Sheep Shearing.

20% of all sales will help feed hungry kids

Cookie Gift Boxes and Mini Butter Rum Pound Cakes

available 100% of which will

be donated to Share Our Strength

The Wonderful K and K Kreations!

2010-04-24T13:37:00.000-04:00

Carolyn from K and K Kreations

has joined the fight against child hunger in America!

K and K Kreations will be providing the ribbons and bows for our Cookie Gift Boxes. Carolyn will also be helping to spread the word about Share Our Strength and The Great American Bake Sale throughout her hometown of Duluth, MN!

To find out more about Carolyn's handmade artificial silk floral arrangements/wreaths, or custom bows and boutonnieres please contact them at:

K and K Kreations

3721 Lavaque Rd.

Duluth, MN 55810

218-260-1354

www.kandkfloral.artsefest.com

A Huge Thank You To My Friends!

2010-04-13T11:30:00.001-04:00

On April 10th Cookie Central celebrated being one year older with friends and family at

The Boardwalk Inn & Cafe

Hampton, NH

We are pleased to announce our friends and family joined together to donate $290.00 to our 2010 Great American Bake Sale. With this money

Share Our Strength will be able to feed 11 hungry children for an entire summer!

These donations have also put us just $110.00 away from last years total!

An enormous thank you to everyone for such generous donations.

It made my birthday that much more special ~ Michele :D

We Have a Sponsor!

2010-03-26T17:36:00.000-04:00

We are pleased to announce BJ's Wholesale Club of Haverhill will once again join us in the fight against child hunger!

BJ's was a sponsor to our 2009 Great American Bake Sale and has confirmed they will be providing us with baking supplies for our 2010 Great American Bake Sale. We are thrilled to have such a prominent part of the community backing our event and look forward to selling custom decorated BJ's logo cookies at our sale!

BJ's Wholesale Club of Haverhill has been a long standing supporter of fundraising events within the community. To learn more about BJ's please visit the corporate website at

http://www.bjs.com/

Thank You to the Winner's Circle Running Club!

2010-03-17T13:13:00.000-04:00

We would like to extend our thanks to the

Winner's Circle running club

Members generously donated to our bake sale and

purchased gift boxes of cookies

from team member Sharon Yu at their last member meeting

The money raised would buy almost 25 bags of food for a family at a food bank!

The Winner's Circle

is a running club with runners of all abilities, from casual to Olympic qualifiers.

The club puts on several road races every year

the Hangover Classic

the April Fools Race

Run For the Roses, which is a women's race

Trav's Trail Run

the Turkey Trot in Maudslay on Thanksgiving Day.

The "Circle" has always donated generously to various charities over the years.

To learn more visit the Winner's Circle Website

Share Our Strength's Taste Of The Nation

2010-03-16T12:08:00.000-04:00

Savor the finest food, spirits and wines at

Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation

Taste of the Nation Boston

April 8th, 2010

5:30 VIP/ 6:30 GA

Hynes Convention Center

900 Boylston Street

Boston, Ma 02115

Taste of the Nation Manchester

April 14th, 2010

6:00-9:00

Radisson Center of Manchester

700 Elm Street

Manchester, NH 03101

100% of ticket sales support Share Our Strength's efforts to end child hunger!

Vote For Share Our Strength!

2010-03-12T07:33:00.000-05:00

"Since 1992 Share Our Strength and American Express have partnered to fight hunger. Now anyone can join in our partnership by voting for Share Our Strength in this year's Members Project from American Express and Take Part. Members Project is an online initiative that provides those with a passion for philanthropy and interest in giving back, an opportunity to take small steps to make a big difference. The program encourages everyone, whether a card member or not, to do their part by providing numerous ways to get involved, share stories and inspire others. Every three months 5 charities will be chosen to receive $200,000 in funding from American express. Join Members Project at

www.takepart.com/membersproject

and vote for Share Our Strength

2010-03-08T20:54:00.000-05:00

Selling Cookies & Sheering Sheep!

Cookie Central has reserved a table for the

North Andover Sheep Sheering Festival

Sunday, May 23rd

10-4

The Old Center

North Andover, MA 01845

Cookie Central will donate 20% of all we sell to our bake sale!

Please join us for early morning sweets......and sheep!

Please Welcome Our Newest Team Member!

2010-03-06T19:15:00.000-05:00

I am pleased to say Sharon Yu has joined our team!

Sharon will be selling gift bags and boxes of cookies to help raise money for our bake sale.

100% of the money Sharon raises will be donated to

Share Our Strength, a national organization commited to ending child hunger in America!

Not going to see Sharon?

Donate on her behalf at

Sharon's Team Page

Thank You to Platinum Web Marketing

2010-03-05T08:07:00.000-05:00

We would like to give a big fat thank you to Anthony from Platinum Web Marketing & Design for an incredible donation to our bake sale!

Platinum Web Marketing & Design

2510 E Sunset Rd. Suite 5-421

Las Vegas, NV 89120

866-303-8047

http://www.platinumwebmarketing.com

Platinum Web Marketing & Design

A Las Vegas based internet marketing company, providing local online marketing, internet marketing, internet advertising, search engine optimization, web marketing and web design services to all businesses nationwide that need or want to be found on the internet!

Thank you Anthony for such a generous donation! ~ Michele :D

Thank You to The Cupertino Soap Company

2010-03-05T07:39:00.000-05:00

We would like to say thank you to The Cupertino Soap Company! Your donation yesterday has brought us that much closer to our goal :)

~~~

The Cupertino Soap Company

Cupertino, CA 95014

408-996-7088

http://www.cupertinosoap.com

The Cupertino Soap Company

Our natural soaps are hand crafted using only the finest ingredients and supplies available. Our hand crafted soap is not only beautiful, but wonderful for your skin. There are over 70 soap fragrances with aromatherapy

A Big Thank You To The Staging Fashionista

2010-03-04T19:15:00.000-05:00

We would like to thank Mannie Tantawy "The Staging Fashionista" for making the first donation to our bake sale!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Staging Fashionista

"Dressing Homes To Sell"

Alexandria, Va

703-269-8330

info@thestagingfashionista.com

http://www.thestagingfashionista.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Staging Fashionista provides professional and affordable staging services to homeowners and realtors. We declutter, depersonalize, accessories and rearrange a home to make it more attractive to potential buyers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mannie, Your contribution was so generous! Thank you for participating :D

Please Welcome La Physique' Slimming Spa

2010-03-04T13:21:00.000-05:00

Cookie Central is proud to announce La Physique' Slimming Spa has joined our team! The lovely Julie Johnson will be selling cookie gift bags and recruiting new volunteers and we are thrilled to have her as our newest team member :D

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

La Physique' Slimming Spa

24720 B HGWY 17

Waynesville, MO 65583

573-774-3925

Julie's Blog: http://tiny.cc/JulieBlog

La Physique' on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/LaPhysiqueJulie

Click on La Physique' in our Businesses involed to be taken to their website!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Note From La Physique'

Hello! My name is Julie Johnson, and I established Young at Heart in 1995, and the La Physique' Slimming Spa, in 2004, after realizing what a great addition slimming spas were to training!

La Physique' Slimming Spa is a full-service slimming spa located in Waynesville, Missouri, and is co-located with Young at Heart Personal Fitness Training. We have FDA approved slimming spas, such as Cellulite Abatement, Slimming Parafango spa, Mandarin Exfoliation spa, and incredible spa packages. We also have a dry-infrared sauna, shower facilities, lounge area, full on-site store and more!

We Are Registered!

2010-03-03T16:57:00.002-05:00

We at Cookie Central have been known to buy sugar on occasion. I've always noticed on the Domino Sugar bag a promotion for The Great American Bake Sale. I never thought much about it until the day my husband came home and mentioned the meal center next to his warehouse had a line out the door (it was 4:00). Parents and children waiting in line for something so many of us take for granted....a meal. The times have been hard on our entire country.

It's become common to hear stories of layoffs, foreclosures, and bankruptcy. Many of us have sacrificed luxuries; that shoe fetish has been wained, the annual vacation cancelled, and maybe those brand new golf clubs are no longer a necessity. For many, though, the sacrifices have been severe. Mortgages, rents and the now required health insurance rates have risen. For many people it's a choice between their home and their dinner.

Any parent who has had trouble knows the fear of not being able to provide for their children. Now, for many, it's not a fear....it's a reality. There is hope. People working together can do great things. So we at Cookie Central have decided to host (yet another) Great American Bake Sale in hopes of giving a Little to those who need a lot. Currently we are looking for people to join Team Cookie Central and help in our cause! Please help us do great things for the great people who need them. For more information or to get involved please contact me! Michele Gorham 978~423~1215 or mycookiecentral@gmail.com

"Share Our Strength is the leading national organization working to make sure no kid in America grows up hungry. We weave together a net of community groups, activists and food programs to children at risk of hunger, and ensure they have nutritious food where they live, learn and play." To learn more about Share Our Strength visit their website http://www.strength.org

Cookie Central's Great American Bake Sale

Bake Walk For No Kid Hungry - Update 1

Taste the Difference at the Nation's Premier Culinary Benefit

Kids For No Kid Hungry

Gearing Up For 2012

Our Overdue Follow Up To Our Patriots Game Bake Sale

It Only Gets Better & Better

Taste of the Nation Baltimore and Conference of Leaders 2011

A Kindle, A Baker & A Holiday Tag

*Join The Fat Baker Club*

**During the month of October, we will donate your entire membership fee to Share Our Strength to support their efforts to fight childhood hunger in America*

It is great customers like you that keep Cookie Central running! As a way to give back we now offer The Fat Baker Club, featuring free monthly giveaways, discounts on all your orders and a complimentary gift basket when you sign up. Check out the Fat Baker Club Blog to learn more.

5% off All Your Orders For The Entire Year

One Compilmentary Gift Basket

Automatic Entry Into Our Monthly Giveaways

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That's A Wrap! Our 1st Annual Great American Golf Tournament

Great American Golf Tournament Donations & Sponsors!

September Update For Cookie Central's Great American Bake Sale Campaign

National Baking Week Is On

Cookie Central's 3rd Annual Great American Bake Sale Continues

Great American Bake Sale's National Bakery Week Is Coming

A Follow Up To Our Final Two Bake Sales of 2011!

Summer Hunger

Oh look, pie! A Follow Up To Our July 3rd Bake Sale

Ice Cream Maker Winner!

The Past, Present and Future Of Cookie Central's 3rd Annual Great American Bake Sale

Cookies With Care

Fighting Homelessness In Our Community: Capernaum Place

Donate and Save For No Kid Hungry

Fighting Hunger In Our Community: Merrimack Valley Food Bank

Cookies And Sheep Revisited

Our Bake Sale Debotchery

A Day For Kids!

Take The Pledge Rally

And The Winner Is!

For Food Lovers And No Kid Hungry

A Night Of Laughs For No Kid Hungry

A Thank You And A New Event!

Dollar Days: An Online Raffle To End Childhood Hunger

The Haverhill Taste Of The Town

Cookie Central Visits Lazarus House

Cookie Central's 3rd Annual Great American Bake Sale Update!

We Are Taking The Food Stamp Challenge

Cookies For A Cause: Our No Kid Hungry Line Of Cookies

BJs Taste Of The Town (Salem, NH)

A Look At Cookie Central's 2011 Great American Bake Sale

Share Our Holiday Table - Potato Leek Soup

A Big Fat Thank You To Spokane Grapevine!

We're Gearing Up For Share Our Holiday Table

Do More With Your Holiday Order!

We Will Be Sharing Our Holiday Table!

Share Our Strength's Conference of Leaders

Cookie Central is Headed For Washington!

Success at the MFA!

Thanks To The MFA, Recruit Class 187 & Erin (from Jake's)

Cookies & Sheep Update!

Don't Forget To Join Us!

The Wonderful K and K Kreations!

A Huge Thank You To My Friends!

We Have a Sponsor!

Thank You to the Winner's Circle Running Club!

Share Our Strength's Taste Of The Nation

Vote For Share Our Strength!

Please Welcome Our Newest Team Member!

Thank You to Platinum Web Marketing

Thank You to The Cupertino Soap Company

A Big Thank You To The Staging Fashionista

Please Welcome La Physique' Slimming Spa

We Are Registered!

Join The Fat Baker Club