BETHLEHEM, PA - A bake sale in the Lehigh Valley this Friday is doing more than just serving up tasty treats. Those who pick up a baked good from the event at Legend Senior Living in Bethlehem will be contributing to the fight against childhood cancer.
"I call it guilt-free calories. You can make your cookies and know that you are doing good and being a good cookie."Gretchen Holt Witt, Founder, Cookies for Kids' Cancer
"I call it guilt-free calories. You can make your cookies and know that you are doing good and being a good cookie,” said Gretchen Holt Witt, a Bethlehem native. She is the founder of Cookies for Kids’ Cancer.
Funds from Friday’s bake sale at Legends’ The Vero on Bath Pike will be donated to the organization. It will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. and the event is open to the public.
“The way that our organization works is that people sign up to have their own grassroots events and when I say grassroots events they can do whatever it is that they want to do, said Witt. “So there have been bachelor and bachelorette auctions, there have been 5K's, there have been stair climbing contests, there have been carwashes, you name it. There's nothing that limits somebody from getting involved.”
Witt, who grew up in Bethlehem, but has since moved out of state, said she was pleasantly surprised when the Lehigh Valley facility reached out to raise money for her organization.
Witt’s son Liam was diagnosed with cancer at 2 years old. She quickly learned that funds to combat cancer in children were limited. Although her son lost his battle just before his 7th birthday, Witt wanted to continue raising money for other children with the disease.
"I had the idea to bake 96,000 cookies as a way to raise money for a treatment that was in development and somehow, through sheer grit and determination, that project was successful and raised over $420,000 and that's what led to the creation of the organization,” said Witt.
Since then, her organization has been linked to more than 16,000 grassroots events in all 50 states and 26 countries. Cookies for Kids’ Cancer has granted over $20 million in research and helped to make more than two dozen treatments available for pediatric patients.
"It was really important to me to create an organization that allowed anybody at any age to get involved, so we're welcoming of somebody who is six to 106,” said the founder.
Cookies for Kids’ Cancer not only encourages people to hold their events, they also sell cookies on their websites, with all proceeds going back to their mission.
Now through the end of the year, their corporate partner OXO is matching every dollar that comes into the cookie mission through community efforts. Their website is cookiesforkidscancer.org.
