giving back

Service: Jackie Gonzalez-Feezer Bakes and Blogs to End Hunger

giving backmoms making a difference

LaCasadeSweets.com is a blogging confectionery, a treat of fun twists on classic baked dishes. Jackie Gonzales-Feezer, started the blog a little over a year ago, not only to share her recipes online, but also to raise money to fight hunger. "From the start," she says, "I wanted to use my blog to raise awareness of different issues and money to fight hunger both here in the U.S. and around the world.  I decided that the only way I could put time and energy into a blog would be if I was going to dedicate it to ending hunger." Jackie bakes and blogs to end hunger, literally.

When asked why she chose to take on the cause of hunger, Jackie says it was something that began when she started graduate school at American University.  "Most of my Master's work was related to studying the immense impact international organizations have on childhood hunger, development, and health in developing countries. Once I graduated, I pursued a career in teaching. Studying hunger, then seeing it in real life amongst several of my students, had a huge impact on me. Once I became a mom to my two adorable little girls, the thought of any child going hungry moved me to act.  I've been baking since I was young, so I thought the idea of a recipe-based site might go well with raising money for hungry children."

She continues: "My latest endeavor is to raise money for Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale.  I've worked closely with them over the past year, and I'm a huge fan of their No Kid Hungry program.  Bakers from around the country coming together for such a great cause is thrilling!  To raise money, I've organized a group of fellow bakers/bloggers and businesses from my local area of Maryland and D.C. and from across the country, to work together to raise money.  We have a team page where our readers can donate, and we are hosting individual bake sales to raise money as well."

And when asked how other moms can make a difference, she says: "Raising money for a cause doesn't have to be hard.  A lot of the fundraisers I do involve a four step process:

  1. Take orders from friends, family, co-workers, local businesses, schools and churches.  Something simple works best: offer people a choice of 1 or 2 different cookies, for example.
  2. Bake. Decide on a day you'll bake all the cookies, then package them in a bag tied with a ribbon.
  3. Deliver the sweets, all on one day, and collect the donations from your customers.
  4. Donate your funds. You'll be so happy knowing all your hard work was for such a great cause!"

She also suggests sharing a link on your blog or in Twitter or Facebook as one of the easiest ways to get people involved in the cause you care about, whether it be hunger or something else.  With everyone on Twitter and Facebook these days, the easiest thing is to share a fundraiser link with the people you know, asking them to donate to your cause.

Jackie is another great example of a mother making a difference by figuring out what makes her happy, what she's good at, and combining those things to help make others happy. You can find out more about her, and find links to the Great American Bake Sale and other hunger charities on her About page, or on Twitter or Facebook.

Featured image courtesy of Flickr.
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