Cookies for Giving. . . .Works For Me Wednesday

One of the best things about baking and decorating cookies is giving them away.

{Keep reading...there is a way for you to help!}

Have you heard about Drop In & Decorate? It is a fabulous, nonprofit organization and the brainchild of food writer Lydia Walshin of The Perfect Pantry.

The idea behind Drop In & Decorate is simple: bake some cookies; gather a group of family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, your worship group or book group to decorate the cookies together; donate the cookies to a nonprofit agency serving basic human needs in your own community.

It’s a simple idea in a complicated world, and something anyone can do. The 10,000th cookie will be decorated and donated by the end of this year. Will it be yours?

If you’d like to host your own Drop In & Decorate® event, Pillsbury and Wilton would like to help.

Pillsbury has donated 50 VIP coupons, worth $3.00 each, off any Pillsbury product -- including sugar cookie mix and icing -- to be distributed, first come, first served, while supply lasts, to anyone who plans to host a Drop In & Decorate event (max. 5 coupons per person). And we'll include a Comfort Grip cookie cutter, donated by Wilton, to people who plan to host cookies-for-donation events.

Write to lydia AT ninecooks DOT com for more info on how to get your free coupons and cookie cutters.

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NOW, here's my idea...

I'd really love to bake 500 cookies are have you all over to decorate, but I don't have that many squeeze bottles. :)

So, what do you say to a Bake at 350 virtual Drop In & Decorate event? Invite the neighbors, decorate with your kids, decorate by yourself, whatever.

Let's try to donate them the first week of December...but if you need to do it sooner, please go ahead.

There are a few guidelines:

• For your cookies to count as an official Drop In & Decorate event, you must donate decorated sugar cookies. No cupcakes, no brownies...cookies. (Need ideas? You're in the right place!)
• The cookies must be donated to an agency serving basic human needs (food, shelter, etc.). They can go to a senior center, food pantry, domestic violence shelter, Ronald McDonald House, even a nursing home. But not to benefit an individual.
• Email me (bridget350{AT}gmail{DOT}com) telling me how many cookies you donated and where they were donated. Email pictures, too! I'll post all of the totals and some pictures here on the blog and pass all of our info on to Drop In & Decorate.
• Optional: tweet about your baking and giving using hashtag #dropindecorate.

AND, you can grab one of the cute little badges for your blog. {See sidebar.}

So, who's with me? Like Lydia says, "Cookies make people smile, and bring a bit of happiness to people in difficult circumstances."