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Unfortunately, cancer is a fact of life for many of us. I have had quite a few family members pass away from the effects of different types cancer. I am proud to say I am partnering with Bake It Happen to help raise awareness for their innovative fundraising campaign started by two awesome sisters whose mission is to find a cure for Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC).
Bake It Happen Is Important
Kicking off its fifth year, Bake It Happen is the baby of two sister’s creative campaign in their mom’s memory that raises funds for metastatic breast cancer simply by baking and sharing her coveted recipes on social media with the help of partners The Cancer Couch Foundation,Taste Buds Kitchen, Sweet Loren’s and Ford Warriors in Pink.
Why Baking?
The fundraising effort – which honors the legacy of Judy Levin, a talented baker/cook and mom who sadly lost her battle with Metastatic Breast Cancer – requires only that participants bake and share photos of Judy’s recipes on social media. An anonymous donor will donate money for every Bake it Happen photo “shared.” 100% of the funds raised from Bake it Happen will go to directly to The Cancer Couch Foundation to fund Metastatic Breast Cancer Research.
While 41,000 individuals die from MBC each year, little funding for research is allocated to this deadly disease. As a result, Judy’s daughters, Shari and Stacy have been the driving forces behind this creative fundraising campaign aimed at helping accelerate treatment options for patients battling this most aggressive form of breast cancer.
That number is shocking. As a woman in my early 40s, it really hits home. It’s in my family and I am at risk. We need to do more to cure this horrendous, horrendous disease.
Bake It Happen Keeps Growing And Growing
The Bake It Happen campaign was first introduced on Shari’s blog My Judy the Foodie, which has an incredibly loyal following and is dedicated to her mom and her amazing recipes. In its first year, the campaign was shared by parenting and food bloggers across the country who lent their support and digital influence to the fundraising effort. Over time, thousands of supporters across the country began to pass on Judy’s culinary legacy and hope for a cure. It’s been amazing to watch it grow.
After five years, the Bake it Happen campaign achieved its goal: to build the baking campaign into a national fundraising movement where supporters would bake and share Judy’s recipes or donate to the cause. To date, the Bake it Happen campaign has raised over $60,000 for breast cancer research. This year Shari and Stacy are determined to raise even more with our help.
How You Can Help Make Bake It Happen A Success
Get baking! You can grab the recipes here (they even have a gluten-free recipe!). We decided to make the Compost Cookies. They were delicious, salty, sweet and crunchy. All my favorite cookie attributes! They didn’t last long. I had to fight my husband off just to get a picture! We have definitely added the Compost Cookies to our top 10 cookie recipes. We are going to make the banana bread recipe this coming weekend. Perfect for fall.
After picking out and baking your favorite of the four recipes, post it everywhere! Tag Bake It Happen on Instagram (@bakeithappen00), Facebook (@ubakeithappen) and Twitter using the hashtag #BakeItHappen. Every time you post a picture a $5 donation will be made to The Cancer Couch Foundation. It’s a win/win.
If you aren’t a baker or still want to help out more you can donate via this link: https://www.bakeithappen.net/donate
I can’t wait to follow along and see all the yummy recipes! Remember to use the hashtag: #BakeItHappen
More about Bake It Happen, The Cancer Couch Foundation and their partnerships:
This year, Bake It Happen will be donating all of the funds raised by its fundraising efforts to The Cancer Couch Foundation – a non-profit organization founded by Dr. Rebecca Timlin-Scalera (an amazing woman who was initially diagnosed, incorrectly, at Stage 4 and then restaged and currently battling Stage 3c breast cancer). Rebecca is a neuropsychologist who, upon diagnosis, quit her private practice to dedicate ALL of her time to raising as much money as she can to fund metastatic breast cancer research. The Cancer Couch Foundation, in just the first six months, raised over $500k for cutting-edge metastatic breast cancer research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The Cancer Couch Foundation is privately funded allowing 100% of donations and event proceeds to go directly to these carefully chosen research projects to accelerate treatment for MBC. Furthermore, every single dollar is matched and this year they are on track to put 1 million dollars toward this life saving, critical research.
“I will never forget what it felt like to have been initially diagnosed at Stage 4, knowing there is no cure, and I will not leave behind those who are still living with this,” commented Founder Rebecca Timlin-Scalera, PhD (Stage 3c).
Bake it Happen has also formed strategic partnerships with Taste Buds Kitchen. TBK is a Kids Kitchen by day and a BYOB Adult Kitchen by night offering cooking classes, parties and special events to ages 2-99. With their flagship location in NYC and franchise locations in cities around the country, all locations will offer special Bake It Happen themed classes this October for budding chefs ages 2 to 8 along with a caregiver to make a special recipe from the campaign. All locations have committed to donating a portion of the proceed from those classes to The Cancer Couch Foundation!
“We are honored to contribute to the Bake it Happen campaign and support the efforts to find a cure for this terrible disease. Our budding chefs are excited to make a difference,” commented Jessi Brelsford, founder of Taste Buds Kitchen.
Additionally, Ford Warriors in Pink and Sweet Loren’s (amazing, all-natural cookie dough) have joined the campaign as social media partners and will help amplify the message about Bake It Happen via their digital platforms.
For more information about the Bake It Happen campaign, visit their website at www.bakeithappen.net
