by Lois Jamieson
I challenged the high school girls in our Fashion-Etiquette Club to sponsor a service project to benefit the school. They all readily agreed and decided to raise enough money selling cupcakes to buy a new bookshelf for the library. The girls decided that everyday ordinary cupcakes wouldn’t do; they wanted to sell gourmet cupcakes.
So, I enlisted my good friend and baker extraordinaire Kathe Fahland to bake the cupcakes. She would make and bake them. The girls would take it from there. The logistics of pulling this off were daunting, since we meet only once a week for an hour. We set the cupcake sale date, allowing us three weeks to prepare.
This is how it went:
Week One - The girls designed and smothered the school in publicity posters.
Week Two - Kathe brought the homemade cupcakes to school. We moved the class into the school kitchen where she taught Cupcake Decorating 101. The girls took over the cupcake decorating after the lesson. They piped and swirled and laughed, while I watched and occasionally licked the spoon. The girls did an amazing job. We ended up with 100 beautifully decorated gourmet cupcakes. With some more tips from Kathe, the girls stacked the cupcakes up and put them in the freezer. Crossing our fingers, that no one would eat them before the next week.
Week Three - THE BIG SALE DAY IS HERE! Our cupcakes were not eaten, so out of the freezer they came. The girls took total charge from then on. Some of the girls made lemonade, while others put finishing touches on the cupcakes before placing them artistically on trays. Others strategically situated the sale tables at the gate, where all students must pass through when leaving and where parents came to meet the younger students. Some girls went from classroom to classroom asking the teachers to release the classes in a timely manner. Everyone cooperated. The Gourmet Cup Cake sale began.
The Bad News
We started with the kindergarten. By the time the high school classes arrived, we had sold out. There were many grumpy high school students walking around.
The Good News
The younger kids wanted a cupcake sale every week, which gave us a good laugh. We made enough money to buy the bookshelves, which made me happy, as I double as the School Librarian. The girls did the clean up chores. After the clean up, we all went home happy.
Now the Gourmet Cupcake Sale may not seem like a great achievement to some of you. However, I ask you to remember, these Kids Without Stuff live in a high crime area, in poverty, in terrible home situations. Some have parents in prison. I am so very proud of this group of girls.
Thank you, Fashion-Etiquette Club high school girls.
