WRAPPING, PACKING, DELIVERY
In any group, especially one where participation is mandatory (your company's holiday party, for example), there will always be people who would rather wrap cookies than decorate them.
Hooray for wrappers!
How you wrap and pack your cookies for delivery will depend on the needs of the agency who will receive them. Cookies can be wrapped individually, in food-safe cellophane bags tied with festive ribbons. Or, you can pack cookies in "family packs" (3-4 cookies in a Ziploc bag), on large trays, in boxes, or in any other decorative container.
Ask the agency which wrapping method they would prefer. Cookies will stay fresher for longer if they are individually wrapped or packed in Ziploc bags; this is best for food pantries, where cookies will be distributed with the weekly pick-up. If the cookies will be served with a meal, for example, you can deliver on trays. Some agencies will want "family packs" of several cookies, and Ziploc bags are great for that. (Packing in family packs takes much less time than wrapping individually, too.)
Logistics need to be worked out before your event, as the cookies should sit overnight, or for at least 8 hours, so the icing will harden. This could mean having a morning event, and wrapping the cookies after work. Or having an evening event during the week, and inviting co-workers to come in early the next day to have a wrapping party.
If your event is on a weekend, that presents more of a challenge. You can:
- Leave the cookies set out to dry overnight, and recruit volunteers to come in the next day to wrap and pack.
- Ask volunteers to take some cookies home and wrap them the following morning (less desirable).
DELIVERY AND PUBLICITY
For many companies, delivery and publicity go hand in hand.
Lucia shared these tips from her events at the Sargent Rehabilitation Center in Warwick, Rhode Island:
Our PR person took some photos at the decorating event and submitted a piece to the local Warwick paper. This year I will encourage her to take more photos and push for the piece to be sent to all the papers. It was easy to identify who our recipients for the cookies would be, since part of my agency is a private day school for children with disabilities. The staff and clients in my program felt good about decorating cookies for the kids in the 'back building'.
I created a label for the bags with the Drop In & Decorate logo [Ed. note: free for the asking] and my agency's name. Because of food allergies, I wondered about listing cookie and icing ingredients, but I can't recall what I decided about that.
If your company and the recipient agency agree, please be sure to take photos of your delivery, and also during the cookie decorating event. At any time of year, your company's PR or community relations department will be happy to help spread the word about this wonderful philanthropic activity.
Previously:
Part I: Planning your event, finding a recipient agency
Part II: Baking and decorating
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