Cookie Stand

Day 386:

'Cookies for Cancer'

It's got that alliteration feeling to it - and it combines two of our interests: Making, eating, selling , sharing cookies,....and raising money for kids with cancer.

It's amazing what a lemonade / cookie stand can raise in a short 3 hour period. "Hannah, how did you do?" I was curious what the effect of a cookie stand had when placed directly across the street from the little league hot dog stand.

Let me back up for a moment.

Location, location, location. Our home is directly across from three youth baseball fields, where in the months of May and June are packed with loving, screaming, cheering grand/parents and siblings.

Hannah and Emily decided yesterday to set up a lemonade / cookie stand. As they prepared to go head to head with the 'hot dog' stand that the league runs, my mind envisioned the commissioner of the league making his way to my front door to discuss the situation.

"Hannah, I don't think this is such a good idea," I opened up the conversation as she and Emily laid out the treats on the table which had now turned my front lawn into a store front of goodies.

"Dad,... we did it last year!" she firmly reminded me of last years success with the lemonade stand in May - prior to our leaving for Mayo.

"Yes, but you were selling lemonade during practice times when the concession stand was closed. They're open now, and I don't think they will like the fact that you're taking their customers away."

"Well, they don't sell lemonade or cookies so it doesn't matter," she retorted with the confidence of a DECCA member. It's all about the market!

I still wasn't feeling really comfortable as I worked in the back yard listening to the girls in the front give their sales cry, "COOKIES!.....LEMONADE!!" to each passing pedestrian and every person that did a slow drive by in anticipation of a child darting out from the ball field area.

After about an hour, I checked the progress,....and I must say, it wasn't just the average lemonade / cookie stand. The girls had decided to raise money for two very good causes: Kids with Cancer and the Humane Society. They had taken news clippings and photos and placed them on the table to share with those who stopped, along with separate buckets to collect money for each.

Later that night Kim and I had one of those talks,..the kind where you're really tired and don't feel much like talking, but when a good thing happens, you just have to stay up and talk it through.

"What do you think about this cookie idea?" I said this already knowing the answer. It would mean that if Hannah were to sell cookies, Kim would be spending a great deal of her time assisting in the production. Not to be biased or anything,..but she does make the best cookies around.

"I think it's a fantastic idea," was her reply.

Oh Sweet Nelly,.. cookies could be the beginning to OSN (Oncology Societal Network). Sell a cookie, share a story,... and by the way, 'would you care for a lemonade to wash it down with?'

"Hannah, how did you do?" I waited to hear the results.
"Twenty seven dollars and two cents," was her matter of fact reply.

OSN has cookies for sale,...we just need to figure out how to do it without getting into trouble with the government while raising money for kids with cancer.