Together We Can Create Change

Why Bake For Better?

In 2020 when we were all in quarantine I found myself getting sad, uninspired and unmotivated. I couldn’t see friends, I couldn’t see family and we didn’t leave the house very often. It was summer, but I barely even knew it because the pools were closed, camps were closed and the beaches were off limits. There really was not much to do. So I started baking.

As my baking skills improved, I asked my mom if we could sell what I was making to raise money for the food pantry. I had been making sandwiches for them since 2nd grade and I knew that they had more customers during quarantine than ever. I had also really perfected my fudge and chocolate chip cookies, so I thought I could probably raise a good amount of money.

Since we were in quarantine we were not sure how to sell my treats. So my mom posted on our community Facebook page in Laurel Canyon and we immediately had a weeks worth of deliveries. We suggested an amount of $5 per bag or whatever our customers would like to donate. We packaged my baked goods, put on masks and surgical gloves and set out to deliver my treats keeping distant and safe. We delivered to one neighbor at a time all summer long. We delivered mostly in the evenings and on the weekends when my mom was not working.

What our customers didn’t know, was how good it made me feel to bring them my baked goods. The sad unmotivated feelings I had before baking, all went away and I felt like I had a real purpose again. By the end of the summer I had helped raise over $2,500 for The North Hollywood Interfaith Food Pantry.

As school started up again, I wanted to find a way to keep servicing the food insecure at the pantry and encourage others do the same. So my mom and I came up with an idea called Bake For Better. We presented this Idea to Barbara Javitz (The Director of the North Hollywood Interfaith Food Pantry) and to The Wesley School. Both organizations said “yes!” and helped me launch my first official Bake For Better event on Valentine’s Day 2021. With the help of The Wesley School bakers, we delivered over 300 bags of treats to those in need during just our first event. It was a huge success.

Bake For Better may just be getting started, but we have some really big plans! - Ralston