Paying it back, paying it forward: sharing cookie love in Washington DC

 

Nothing speaks to the spirit of Drop In & Decorate more than this note and photos from Leighann, who hosted her first cookies-for-donation party for a group of friends in Herndon, Virginia, on National Cookie Day (December 4):

I remember volunteering once at a Ronald McDonald House in high school. I casually thought what a great idea the facility was for families in medical crisis.

The next time I seriously thought about the Ronald McDonald House was in February of this year when our son was born with a congenital heart defect. This time, I thought the idea of the Ronald McDonald House was invaluable to my family in medical crisis.

We stayed at the Ronald McDonald House of Greater Washington DC for a month with our two older children while going back and forth to the hospital every day. My son is still in the hospital receiving medical care and I’ve stayed at the RMH on and off for the last nine months. When I ran across Drop In & Decorate, I immediately thought of the the families we met in our time at ‘the house’ and how wonderful it was when groups brought in food for the families –- especially dessert.

So I pulled some friends together to make seven dozen iced Christmas cookies to spread Christmas cheer to the families currently staying at the house. Thank you for inspiring me to give back to my community in such an easy and fun way.

To see more photos and read about Leighann's event, please visit her blog.

Thanks to Leighann and her friends (especially the tasters!) for making and donating such beautiful cookies to families who will really appreciate something joyful during such challenging times.

Comments

[Candy]

Leighann's story is touching. Drop in and Decorate is a perfect way to touch others in a generous and meaningful way.

[Paz]

Cookies look delicious! It's great to be able to pay it back and pay it forward.

Paz ;-)

[Liz]

My sisters and I just made some Christmas cookies and decorated them. It was a lot of fun! I love little places that will decorate cookies, package them and sell them. I wish my sister would do that, because her recipies are really good and she's great at carefully decorating small details. Another place I've seen this done was this place that has Indianapolis Specialty Desserts.