A Look At Our Last 3 Great American Bake Sale Events

Once again it has been altogether way to long since our last post, 

but that doesn't mean we haven't been busy!

Community Bake Walk for No Kid Hungry
This event was born out of the idea 'We don't have a store front, so let's borrow everyone else's.  In a nut shell, we supplied businesses with cookies while they took donations for Share Our Strength - You can check out the complete details for the bake walk HERE.  I'm thrilled to say the 8 participating businesses raised over $500....enough to get me to donate my hair (eeep!). Check out the before and after below and if you don't like the new do just go ahead and keep it to yourself - or lie to me, that would work too!

Special thanks to Greta Rybus of Greta Rybus Photography for supplying the before picture.

A BIG congratulations to W.J. Grosvenor & Co. raising over $350!!  These guys were pushing the cookies before I even left the building, so it shouldn't surprise anyone when I say they won our event contest *Dessert Party For Your Crew*. 

W.J. Grosvenor & Co. collecting their first donation!

Sad you missed out? No worries, we will absolutely be revisiting this event in 2013!

Gifting For Hunger - Take 2
Throughout the month of July we donated 50% of every order placed where people mentioned (and didn't even need to be exact with the name) 'Gifting For Hunger'.  While we did okay raising a little more that $300, I'm thinking we may need to just donate 50% of all order regardless of who mentions what to whom.....take the stress of the customer, if you know what I mean.

Gifting For Hunger

A Quick Note From The Cookie Lady
While raising money for hungry kids is an obvious motivating factor for what we do, this is certainly not the sole purpose of our campaign!  A big part of the reason we fundraise for Share Our Strength with Great American Bake Sale and Taste of the Nation is because we want to educate people, families, children....everyone.... about the prevalent issue of  childhood hunger in our country and to help connect hungry children (and adults) both in our community and across the nation to the abundance of programs that offer nutritious food and/or food nutrition programs.

With our online promotions we try to provide an easy way for people to learn more and hopefully share with others.  What we've found is that these are the events that don't to quite as well as others (hazard of not having ooey gooey goodies to push maybe?). That said, we want your feedback!  Do you have a creative, fun and easy way to educate people online?  Let us know at mycookiecentral@gmail.com.  I can tell you right now, I have a feeling this has the making of a contest for some free baked product from yours truly so don't be shy!

Our July 4th Great American Bake Sale
Hot. Hot and humid.  Hot and humid with a quick storm thrown in (for good measure).  I complain but really we had a great time.  Our 50/50 raffle, which included $75 and our No Kid Hungry Pig to the winner, was won by none other that 'Pickles', the man with the tractor - I kid you not.  I was also joined by my wonderfully, amazing husband who, after working 38 straight hours at the fire department, showed up and stayed the whole 9 hours....I'll pause while you all applaud.  We were also joined by Allie, the newest addition to our youth.  These three girls had one job - sell 50/50 raffle tickets - and you know what? They sold $150 worth!  Find pictures from the day on the Cookie Central Fan Page

Cake In A Jar

Healthy Food For Hungry Kids

Millions of Children Rely on School Meals

Throughout the school year, hungry kids have access to two wonderful programs - School Breakfast & School Lunch - both of which are offered at a free or reduced price to eligible families that are having a hard time making ends meet.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Child Nutrition Outreach Program (CNOP) "A family with 2 kids— one in elementary school and the other in middle school— that eat free breakfast and lunch at school every day would save around $1655 over the course of the school year."  For many families, assistance is crucial.

So what happens when these children get out of school?
Throughout the summer all over the country community centers, YMCAs, churches and more band together to make sure children who rely on school meals can still gain access to nutritious food during the summer months.  These Summer Meals Centers offer a safe location for any child under the age of 18 to receive a free meal, which is often paired with educational and recreational activities.

Many of the children who need Summer Meals never receive them. 
One of the most common reasons is because children and their families simply do not know these meal centers exist.  I ask that you please take a moment before you don your shades and enjoy the sun and share this information.

Help connect hungry kids with healthy food this summer.

Here is a virtual map of our country. 

You can find summer meals sites in your area by clicking on your state.

If you live in The Merrimack Valley (MA) You Can Find Summer Meals In:

Methuen:

• JFK Park 1 Tudor St.
• Jade Street Park 25 Jade Street
• Tenney Street Park 141 Tenney Street

Haverhill:

• Plugs Pond 119 Mill Street
• Haverhill Highschool 137 Monument Street
• YMCA Haverhill 81 Winter Street
• Consentino School 685 Washington Street

Lawrence:

• Arlington Educational Complex 150 Arlington St.
• S Lawrence East Educ Complex 165 Crawford St.
• Parthum Educational Complex 255 East Haverhill St.
• No Common Educ Complex 233 Haverhill St.
• Leahy School 100 Erving Ave.
• Wetherbee School 75 Newton St.
• Beacon Courts 71 Duckett Ave.
• Merrimack Courts 56 Melvin St.
• Giesler Pool High St.
• Higgins Pool Crawford St.
• Gr. Law. Comm. Boating Prog. 7 Eaton Pl.
• Stadium Courts 179 Osgood St.
• Lawrence High School Campus 70-71 N. Parish Rd.
• Bruce School 135 Butler Street
• Boys and Girls club 136 Water Street
• Food for the World 447 Essex Street
• Hancock Courts 61 Hancock St.
• North Common ParkHaverhill St.
• South Common Park Market Street

If you want to see additional summer meals sites in Massachusetts please visit the Child Nurtition Outreach Program website

Get Ready To Bake Walk!

It's time to hit the streets of North Andover, Billerica & Georgetown for our first ever Community Bake Walk! 

Starting June 13th, businesses throughout our community will join Team Cookie Central in the fight against childhood hunger by offering chocolate chip cookies from Cookie Central in return for $1.00 donations to Share Our Strength.  Really like one of the businesses involved?  Make sure to toss in an extra dollar or two because the location that raises the most money will be receiving a dessert party for their entire crew.

If we raise over $500, I will be visiting participating business 

Nova Salon & Spa to donate my hair to Wigs For Kids!

Take a look below to find location date participation and ways to support these businesses while helping to feed children right here in Massachusetts. 

For directions to any of the locations, please visit the Bake Walk Map.

Who Has The Cookies:

 

 W.J. Grosvenor & Co., Inc.: June 13th - June 15th

If your in need of flooring supplies, tools and/or accessories.

Independent Tire & Auto: June 13th - June 15th

Grab some new tires or an oil change.  Independent Tire & Auto is also collecting old cell phones for the YWCA's battered women's program.

Nova Salon & Day Spa: June 14th - June 16th

Get pampered by Brittany, who will be the one cutting of my locks should we raise over $500!

Georgetown Savings Bank (N. Andover & Georgetown): June 14th - June 16th

Deposit a check, take out a loan, grab a cookie

Bark Of the Town: June 14th - June 16th
No one likes a stinky pooch. Full service grooming on the other hand...now that's alright!

Auto Spa Care Care Center: June 15th - June 17th

We promise to do our best to make sure a bird doesn't do it's business on your car as soon as you leave.

The Champion Factory: June 15th - June 17th

This Friday is movie night for the kiddos! Drop of is 6pm, pick up is 8:30pm.  Oh, it's cheaper than a baby sitter - so you know!

Special thanks to:

 Presenting Sponsor - Gardner Graphics 

Product Sponsor - BJ's Wholesale Club

 

~*~

What Is In A Gift?

What is in a gift?  We give gifts to celebrate milestones, recognize a special occasion, brighten someone's day.  Gifts have become a universal way to say to others, "I'm thinking about you". 

The best gift I was ever given was a KitchenAid mixer from Kohl's.  At the time, I scoffed at my husband (gift giver), giving him only minimal props as the year before that I had received a dust buster - an obvious step in the right direction on his part.  What I didn't realize is what this gift would ultimately create, something we now call Cookie Central.  With that little 4.5Qt. mixer we have built a cookie company, we have provided our community with all the support we can muster, and we have made it our mission to help end childhood hunger in America. 

Share Our Strength was founded on the belief that everyone has a strength to share.  That unappreciated gift (which was given with the intent of getting homemade paste out of it - for the record) opened the door to My strength.  Cookie Central's Great American Bake Sale campaign has grown tenfold, maybe even twentyfold, in it's four years.  Now, as summer approaches, we are commemorating the act of gift giving with our June promotion Gifting for Hunger.  While you may buy many gifts this month, none will be so sweet as feeding a hungry child. 

"Though more than 21 million U.S. kids get free or reduced-price school lunch, just over 3 million of those kids get a free summer meal."

 

Throughout the month of June we will be donating 50% of every order that comes in to Share Our Strength's efforts to ensure hungry children get fed this summer - All you need to do is mention our Gifting For Hunger promotion when placing your order.  

Please help us help the thousands of children who will struggle with hunger this summer, share this with a friend and place our order today!

Learn more about Share Our Strength

Learn more about what we are doing to fight childhood hunger

Important Change To Our Golf Tournament!

We have changed the date of our Great American Golf Tournament!  

Great American Golf Tournament

Bradford Golf Club

Friday, October 12th

12:00 Shotgun

~*~

We also want to remind everyone that our Bake Walk for No Kid Hungry is 2 weeks away!!  

Pop into a participating business June 14th -  June 17th and receive a chocolate chip cookie with your $1 donation.  Give the Bake Walk Map a click to see whose involved, and please feel free to contact us if you would like to add your business to the list!

View Bake Walk For No Kid Hungry 6/15-6/17 in a larger map

A special thank you to all the businesses already involved.