Every Cookie Counts: How the Great American Bake Sale Helps to End Childhood Hunger

Ryan Benyi

Ann Marie Gonzalez has much to be grateful for—a happy, close-knit family, steady work for herself and her husband, plenty of good friends and neighbors in their rural hometown of Glen Spey, New York. But the 42-year-old mom never realized just how fortunate she was until she turned on the news one evening at Christmastime in 2008. "They were showing groups of volunteers handing out turkeys to families who couldn't afford them," she recalls. "The economy was starting to go downhill, and many people had lost their jobs and suddenly found themselves struggling to feed their children. It was heartbreaking."

The next evening, as her family sat down to a holiday feast with all the fixings, Ann Marie mentioned the news story to her husband, Tony, 47, a heating oil company technician, and kids Toni-Ann, 17, and Anthony, 11. "I told them we were blessed to have everything we need, and that we should help others who aren't so lucky," she recalls. "Everyone agreed, and promised right then and there to volunteer. The only question was how. Then I saw an article in Family Circle about the Great American Bake Sale (GABS) and thought, 'Now there's something we could do!'" When Ann Marie says "we," she means everyone: She recruited her mom, Gladys Hess, mother-in-law Gladys Gonzalez, sister-in-law Nilsa Perez, sister Doreen Kime, and her 8-year-old niece, Olivia. Serendipity also stepped in. Doreen had a friend who was holding an outdoor charity event in April in nearby Monroe, New York. "By renting our tables there, we'd be helping out her cause and our own," says Ann Marie. "It was perfect."

The three generations gathered in Ann Marie's kitchen on a Saturday and baked their hearts out. "We made all the treats our families love—cupcakes, brownies, Rice Krispies squares, banana and pumpkin bread," she says. "Since my mom likes to experiment with new recipes, we also tried chocolate-covered Oreos and pretzels." Toni-Ann and Olivia were eager to help measure, mix and, most of all, taste-test. Sunday was warm and gorgeous, and the turnout was strong. "We had fun meeting and greeting everyone who stopped by," says Ann Marie. "People were so generous. Many left money in the big jar we put on the table without buying a thing." On Monday Ann Marie brought the leftovers to work—she handles billing in a dermatologist's office—and sold out in an hour.

The Gonzalez girls raised $470 for GABS. "It made me feel I could make a difference," says Toni-Ann. The guys have been inspired too. "Tony and Anthony were so proud of us they want to volunteer at least once a month packing food for the elderly," says Ann Marie, who plans to hold another bake sale this summer. "The money we raise might stay in our community or go to a food program halfway across the country," she says. "Either is fine with me. What's important is that kids who need help will get it. No child—anywhere—should have to go hungry."