I often laugh at myself and say that I guess I’m not into my baking for the money. Why do I say that? Because I absolutely LOVE to bake for charity. For the past three years I’ve had some sort of Christmas bake sale and I would donate all of the proceeds to a certain cause or charity.
The first time I hosted a bake sale it was to benefit Angel Tree which is a ministry that provides Christmas gifts to children whose parent(s) are incarcerated. The gifts are purchased and given to the children in the name of their parent. I was fortunate to raise more than what was requested of me and it felt really good to give more than what was expected.
The following year I assisted a family that was blessed with six bouncing bundles of joy! The McGee’s of Columbus, Ohio. Now that bake sale was a doozy! I had no idea of the orders that would come. Not only were people buying one cake, but there were some that ordered two! One for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas! I was super busy and by the time it was over I was super tired LOL! But again, it felt SO GOOD to be able to help this family! The babies are so precious!!
Last year I wasn’t able to do a bake sale because of going through the grieving process of losing my mom that August. I never thought that I’d not want to bake but that time of my life was an experience I’ll never forget. Grief is a powerful emotion, so very powerful. I’ve never had anything to knock the life or desire to live out of me. I’ve always been a strong woman of faith. I enjoyed life and living. I know that life is a gift and you only get one chance on this side. I always wanted to make the most of it. However August 12, 2011 my life as I knew it ended when my mom took her last breath. If I dwell on it too long I’ll start crying so I’ll fast forward. But if you are reading this and you have your mom PLEASE treasure her. PLEASE give her the world. PLEASE hug her and tell her you love her and how much you appreciate her, do it for me. I didn’t take my mom for granted, we had an awesome relationship. I have no doubt that she knew I loved her and would fight to the death for her. I just wish…just wish she were here. Tears are flowing now…
So…whew…(thanks for letting me share)…so since I didn’t do a fund-raiser I was able to provide baked goods for the Christmas Eve dinner at a local family shelter in Columbus. THAT made the difference for me because I was so bummed that I wasn’t going to help anyone for Christmas. My tradition seemed it was going to be broken after just two years! YIKES! Thanks to the YWCA Family Center for saving the day and allowing me to be a part of their Christmas Eve dinner!
Well, the “give bug” has bitten me early! I want to help someone!! NOW! Then I was hit with an idea. I love watching the news when they show the troops coming home and their families are waiting for them at the airport. I thought wow, how many of those guys left before they had a chance to say “I do” to their sweetie? How many of them are going to get married as soon as they start to settle back into civilian life? I want to make someones wedding cake! I want to do it for free! So that’s my latest project, I plan to make a free wedding cake for one of central Ohio’s returning servicemen/women getting married this year.
I plan to have a contest on my Facebook page and have the contestants enter a brief description of why their sweetie is their one and only. The entry that gets the most “likes” will win the free wedding cake. I hope it works! I hope I get some entries and I hope that people VOTE!
JWest Pastries paying it forward!
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