Bake sale: a new twist on cookies-for-donation

Most of the time, a Drop In & Decorate® event involves a group of people getting together, decorating cookies, and donating those cookies to an agency in their community that serves neighbors in need.

Most of the time, but not always.

At the Sargent Rehabilitation Center in Warwick, Rhode Island, speech therapist Lucia Watson works with adults with physical disabilities. For the third year, she's organized a Drop In & Decorate at the Center, with adult clients and staff decorating cookies to donate to the children's program on campus.

Several staff members help by baking cookies, and clients stop in over two days, during their scheduled therapy. Thanks to enthusiastic response from bakers and decorators, there were many more cookies than needed to serve the agency's own needs.

So, Lucia took it one step further. Nancy Landes, owner of West Warwick Curves, a nearby fitness center for women, offered space free of charge for members to sell gift items during the holiday season.

Lucia took some of the extra cookies decorated at Sargent Rehab, and sold them at Curves; the funds raised were donated to West Warwick Assistance Agency (which runs a food pantry) along with the few unsold cookies.

Photos courtesy of Lucia Watson.

Cookies decorated and donated to children with disabilities, and funds raised from the sale of some of the cookies donated to a food pantry -- and a good time had by all who helped bake and decorate. Now that's a successful Drop In & Decorate!

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If you're planning to host a Drop In & Decorate® event and have not been able to connect with an agency in your community that can accept gifts of homemade cookies, why not consider a bake sale? Gather friends, family or co-workers to decorate cookies, and hold a bake sale, with proceeds donated to your agency of choice. For more information, email to lydia AT dropinanddecorate DOT org.