In August, a friend of mine called to tell me she wanted to put on a HUGE county-wide Cookies for Kids’ Cancer bake sale in September and hoped that Pacific Cookie Company and I would get involved. Kristin Cosner is the loving mother of Gabriella, a sweet 4 year old girl diagnosed just this past March with a cancer by the name of Rhabdomyosarcoma. Kristin and I met in May while filming a touching video of local cancer mamas talking about their experiences and how important it is to spread awareness of pediatric cancer. This video was shown at Mama’s Night Out on May 12, 2012.
How and why would I say no to Kristin’s request? Here is a mother that, in the midst of going through radiation treatment with her little girl 5 days a week for 6 weeks, wanted to make a difference. She wanted to draw attention to the fact that pediatric cancer is 
underfunded while raising precious dollars to help to change that. Now that was a woman that I wanted to work with and be inspired by. I was immediately on board.
Kristin built an amazing team of other locals from parents that had children with cancer, to friends, family and people simply inspired by the cause. Soon, four locations in Santa Cruz County agreed to host the Sunday bake sale. The Santa Cruz Sentinel wrote a wonderful article about Kristin and Gabriella and the bake sales called Sweetness in the Middle of Difficulty. The community was touched by the story and inspired to bake sweets for the event and volunteer in any way they could.
On the Saturday before the big day, Pacific Cookie Company was the headquarters for people dropping off baked goods, volunteers picking up pre-orders of cookies and cupcakes, and a team of people organizing all the bake sale items and “making them pretty”. Over 40 volunteers, along with the local Girl Scouts, came out to make it happen. Local home bakers of all ages were lined up out the door to drop off their beautiful cookies, brownies, cupcakes, bars and sweets, all lovingly made in honor of Team G and the Cookies for Kids’ Cancer bake sale.
Sunday was magical. People from all over Santa Cruz County and beyond came to the 4 bake sale locations to support the cause. Over $22,000 was raised.
I was so honored to be a part of Kristin’s vision and I am so impressed by the outpouring of support from our loving community. Events like these really make a difference.
To keep up with Kristin and Gabriella’s Story you can follow her blog: www.gabriellacosner.blogspot.com.
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As I outstretch my arms to push my back up against the headboard and sit up, I hear a faint groan that sounds strangely like Tucker’s “I’m still asleep…is it really time to get up already?” groan. I wipe the sleep from my eyes with a balled up right fist, and I realize I’d been dreaming! Tucker really WAS still asleep, and really DID let out his “I’m still asleep…is it really time to get up?” groan. The rustling of the sheets wakes Oliver, our 1 year old King Spaniel Terrier, who then proceeds to lick us to death, or until one of us finally slides into our slippers to take care of his morning business…so romantic.
Oliver leads the way to the sand, tugging his leash taunt as we cross the Highway, begging us to let him free. Not a second after we concede to his wishes does he take advantage of the opportunity to bolt away. With outstretched legs he carries himself as fast as he can to the shoreline where the water wets his feet and he comes frolicking back to us. The look on his face is pure happiness for me. We continue this way for an hour or two, as he follows us into the whitewater then onto the rocks and out into the seagrass. His curiosity gets the better of him and he misjudges the depth of a hole in the sand. But victory is his, as he doggie paddles for a moment to regain his footing, and he makes it out! We continue on in this fashion for sometime more before the afternoon winds begin to breeze through, making us realize we have all but missed lunch!
We head towards home, and stop for a late “to-go” lunch at 
On my commute to work every morning, there is a 50/50 chance that I see the 
