Saturday, July 30, 2011

Great American Bake Sale's National Bakery Week Is Coming



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*


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*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.

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Sunday, July 24, 2011

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

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


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Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Summer Hunger

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

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

Sunday, July 10, 2011

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

"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

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Monday, July 4, 2011

Ice Cream Maker Winner!

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!!