Brotherly Love: Bakers Band Together To Share Sweets
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- About a year ago, a Center City woman turned her love of baking into a citywide project. She gave home bakers a way to channel their cooking to bring a smile to refugees and the needy.
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Emily Kaplan of Philadelphia bakes every other week for people she might never meet.
"I'm responsible for 35 to 45 people," she said. "I'm making two packages of brownies."
Emily knows how many people to bake for because she's part of the InKind Baking Project, which links volunteer bakers with non-profits.
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It was started by Molly Lester of Philadelphia, who said it's "very much grassroots."
For a few years, Molly has been baking and dropping off treats for organizations that help the less fortunate. After the president signed a travel ban, Molly felt the need to do more.
"There was so much vitriol being directed at immigrants and refugees," Molly said. "It's just a small thing, but I hoped that extending baked goods could be a different gesture and a different message."
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Molly set up a website: InKindBakingProject.org. Community organizations and non-profits put out a request for desserts, including event date and number of servings. Volunteers sign up to fulfill the request, then they bake and drop off.
"Quick and easy way to make an impact," Emily said. "Sweeten someone's day."
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Emily's brownies went to a free dinner hosted by Community Center at Visitation in Kensington. They were served alongside home-baked cookies and homemade Rice Krispies treats in the shape of a drumstick, all through the InKind Baking Project.
"People are artists!" Molly said. "This is clearly an outlet for a lot of people's creativities."
Assistant director Lakisha Bullock is grateful for everything InKind Baking Project sends over.
"The people love the desserts," Lakisha said. "They always give us way more than we need."
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So far around 300 bakers have fulfilled orders for organizations that help refugees, the needy, and the homeless. Sharing can be sweet in more ways than one.
Don't bake but want to help? InKind Baking Project does not accept money, but it does accept donations of baking mixes and supplies.
Find out more at www.inkindbakingproject.org
