Abby and Isaac decided to hold a cookie sale to earn money for the LDS Church Humanitarian Fund (the fund that helps G-Ma and G-Pa build clean water stations for their friends in Madagascar). We discussed the price and set a goal to earn $25 in quarters to donate in Grandma's name. We created the flier with the intention of passing it out to most of our neighborhood. We started with 20 copies and delivered it to several houses on our street. By the time we returned home to get more fliers, we had two messages on the answering machine, and a neighbor on our porch, checkbook in hand...all ordering at least 3 dozen cookies! (I told my kids we needed to slow down on the flier passing out - they wanted to solicit every house in the neighborhood!)It was time to get cookin! Every night for a week, the big kids and I mixed up batch after batch of cookie dough and put it in the freezer to prep for the big day. Throughout the week, the orders kept pouring in. By Friday night, we had over 25 dozen cookies ordered. One sweet elderly neighbor dubbed my kids, "The Cookie Monsters", and the nickname stuck.
Naturally, we needed to test each batch to be sure they weren't poisoned...
...a job little Soren was happy to help with.
We spent all afternoon on Friday preparing the table, making posters, decorating water bottles (with custom made thank you labels for each customer), and baking, baking, baking! (A HUGE thanks to my sweet neighbors A and J who absolutely saved me by staying up until midnight baking batch after batch, and packaging cookies by the dozen in cute bags with bows.)
Saturday morning greeted us with freezing temps and 2 inches of snow! Several neighbors thought we'd close up shop due to the yucky weather. But my kids were determined. We bundled up, the snow melted, and we braved the weather.
We were a bit afraid that people wouldn't show up...but after the first 20 minutes, it was obvious that those fears were unfounded. 40 minutes into the sale and both my neighbor and I were back in the kitchen, baking up more cookies to avoid a sell-out!
Abby rallied a few buddies together and they began hitting the streets - those poor cars that drove by never had a chance.
My sis and her cute daughter joined in to help man the table.
Isaac and Abby were stunned as they watched the cookie jar filling up with generous donations. None of us expected people to pay so much for a few cookies!
To make things easier for his customers, Isaac started his own "Drive Thru" window. Talk about service!
If you look closely at Abby's big grin - you'll see the fresh hole in her mouth - she lost a tooth at the cookie sale! (Don't worry, we promise it didn't end up in a cookie!)
Soren had all sorts of excuses to get out of the work...age, size, naptime, thumbs that needed sucking, you name it. But he sure didn't mind sampling the wares...
After the 2 hour sale was officially over, we were not done yet! We got out the wagon and delivered cookies to all the people who had pre-ordered. (Several neighbors asked us to deliver them anonymously to their friends...my kids LOVED trying not to get caught!)
Despite our best intentions - we still ended up selling out and spent the next two days baking and filling orders that went unfilled on Saturday. I have no idea how many cookies we baked - I lost track at around 60 dozen.
Finally, when all the work was done we sat down to count the donations. We were honestly BLOWN AWAY by the total. We began with a $25 goal, and ended up with nearly $500 in donations.
Thank you, neighbors, for teaching my children the value of service - and for helping them make a BIG difference.
Naturally, we needed to test each batch to be sure they weren't poisoned... ...a job little Soren was happy to help with.We spent all afternoon on Friday preparing the table, making posters, decorating water bottles (with custom made thank you labels for each customer), and baking, baking, baking! (A HUGE thanks to my sweet neighbors A and J who absolutely saved me by staying up until midnight baking batch after batch, and packaging cookies by the dozen in cute bags with bows.)
Saturday morning greeted us with freezing temps and 2 inches of snow! Several neighbors thought we'd close up shop due to the yucky weather. But my kids were determined. We bundled up, the snow melted, and we braved the weather.
We were a bit afraid that people wouldn't show up...but after the first 20 minutes, it was obvious that those fears were unfounded. 40 minutes into the sale and both my neighbor and I were back in the kitchen, baking up more cookies to avoid a sell-out!
Abby rallied a few buddies together and they began hitting the streets - those poor cars that drove by never had a chance.
My sis and her cute daughter joined in to help man the table.
Isaac and Abby were stunned as they watched the cookie jar filling up with generous donations. None of us expected people to pay so much for a few cookies!
To make things easier for his customers, Isaac started his own "Drive Thru" window. Talk about service!
If you look closely at Abby's big grin - you'll see the fresh hole in her mouth - she lost a tooth at the cookie sale! (Don't worry, we promise it didn't end up in a cookie!)
Soren had all sorts of excuses to get out of the work...age, size, naptime, thumbs that needed sucking, you name it. But he sure didn't mind sampling the wares...
After the 2 hour sale was officially over, we were not done yet! We got out the wagon and delivered cookies to all the people who had pre-ordered. (Several neighbors asked us to deliver them anonymously to their friends...my kids LOVED trying not to get caught!)Despite our best intentions - we still ended up selling out and spent the next two days baking and filling orders that went unfilled on Saturday. I have no idea how many cookies we baked - I lost track at around 60 dozen.
Finally, when all the work was done we sat down to count the donations. We were honestly BLOWN AWAY by the total. We began with a $25 goal, and ended up with nearly $500 in donations.
Thank you, neighbors, for teaching my children the value of service - and for helping them make a BIG difference.
And thank you, Mom, for living such an amazingly selfless life and being such an incredible example of service. My favorite part of this entire project was listening to my children as they explained their cookie sale to our neighbors. Isaac must have said at least two dozen times: "We're doing service because we want to be just wike our Gramma".
We love you Grandma! When I grow up, I want to be just like you too!
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