Carrying the load
Riverside Elementary School fourth-graders Caitlen Taylor, 10, and Bailey Hoffman, 9, fired up their Easy Bake Oven on Saturday with a goal in mind: to raise money for victims of the deadly Dec. 26 tsunami that hit the Indian Ocean coastline.
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Caitlen Taylor, 10, gets brownies ready for a customer at a bake sale on Rivershyre Drive in Evans. Caitlen and several other girls in the neighborhood organized the bake sale to benefit tsunami victims. By the end of Sunday, the girls had raised nearly $80.
Photo by Valerie Rowell
"I saw it on TV that all these kids were helping, and I kind of wanted to help out, too," Bailey said, referring to the tsunami that killed more than 150,000 people.
Her friend Caitlen agreed the idea of a bake sale was a good one. So the girls, along with fifth-grader Jacey Salley, 10, started baking.
Because the girls live close to one another in Rivershyre subdivision off Hardy McManus Road, they set up a picnic table in an open lot on Rivershyre Drive to sell their baked goods.
"They started Saturday with an Easy Bake Oven and Kool-Aid," Tim Taylor, Caitlen's father, said. "They came in and said they were going to bake stuff for a bake sale for the tsunami victims."
After 2 hours of baking, the girls spent Saturday afternoon selling cakes, sugar and vanilla cookies, pretzels and Kool-Aid.
With a profit of $16.50 raised Saturday, the girls, who expanded their group Sunday to include third-grader Cheyenne Manix, 8, added bagels, raisins, cookies, cakes, brownies and root beer to their 50-cent menu.
"Not all people bought things; some just donated," Caitlen said.
The girls join many schools and businesses throughout the county in efforts to help raise funds for victims of the tsunami.
By the end of Sunday, the Rivershyre group had raised nearly $80 and already had plans of where to send the money.
"I want to give it to the (WAFJ 88.3 Christian) radio station," Bailey said.
McKenzie Taylor, 5, holds up a sign to attract customers to a bake sale on Rivershyre Drive on Sunday that her older sister Caitlen, 10, and some friends organized to benefit tsunami victims. They plan another sale this weekend.
Photo by Valerie Rowell
"I want to give it to the Red Cross," Caitlen said.
And because this past weekend's bake sale was successful, the girls decided to hold another sale Saturday and after church Sunday, weather permitting.
Anyone interested in purchasing homemade goodies or making a donation to the Red Cross can stop by the bake sale, which will be held on Rivershyre Drive in the back of Rivershyre subdivision near the nature trail.