The Portland Vegan Bake Sale for Haiti was a smashing success! Over 3K was raised (exact number tomorrow, I’ll let the bank count it), friends were made, community was built and tons of other wonderful things. All told, the vegan bake sales have raised over 25K so far. Hopefully our contributions will help a little bit. I feel grateful to be in a place where I can help, and I hope everyone else does, too. I’ll go to sleep tonight very aware of my place in the world and my duty to the all of the people and animals (and plants!) in it.
Big thanks to:
Monica Cuneo and People’s Co-op for donating such a perfect location. I hope we left it clean enough! Support your local vegetarian co-op, y’all. (I don’t say y’all.)
Mercy Corp! We are so happy to be able to give you guys money to do what you do!
Back To Eden and Dovetail bakeries for donating so generously and happily, and for being generally awesome and community minded (I mean, two vegan bakeries on the same street! Welcome to Portland!)
Kelly Clarke at The Willamette Weekly and Jen McCabe at Oregon Live for helping to get the message beyond all our Facebook friends. (For all other media who did not list it, what is your prob?)
Everyone who volunteered! Kittee, Jess, Kate, Natasha, Jessica (too many Jess’), and god I can’t remember everyone’s names, but you know who you are and you are amazing.
I am off to vacay so don’t expect too much from me this week. Just wanted to get in a quick internet hug and let everyone know how we did. <3<3<3 [|} [|} [|}
Vegan Bake Sale For Haiti - Portland
Sunday January 31st, 2 to 5 pm
People’s Coop, 3029 SE 21 Avenue, upstairs
Check out my dope art skills^
We still need bakers! Use this google document to tell us what you’re bringing.
You can also help by visiting the Yelp! event listing. If you have a Yelp! account, click on “sounds cool” or “I’m in” to keep our event at the top of the listings.
If you’re on Facebook, visit the invite and invite all your friends. Help spread the word!
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Wow, you guys. So far over 10,000 dollars have been raised by vegan bake sales for Haiti nationwide, and that number is sure to multiply next week when sales in Portland, NYC, LA and Minneapolis (and lots of other places) take place. We may not have George Clooney (hey, George! Go vegan!) but we do have chutzpah. And cajones. And moxie. These dollar amounts are providing nice chunks of change to help out those in Haiti who need it. So what I’m trying to say is that I love you.
I’ve learned a lot while helping to organize these sales and from watching other people organize in their cities. As you can see from the Portland shout out above, using the internet to spread the word is crazy helpful. We’ve got google docs for sharing info and Yelp! and Facebook for getting the word out.
Don’t limit yourself to social media, though. Nothing beats good old fashioned pounding the pavement to get the neighborhood involved. Hand out flyers and hang them up on community billboards or in the windows of businesses that say it’s ok (what kind of jerk will say it’s not ok? Jeez, I’ve had a few.) Leave stacks at the supermarket or dry cleaners. Unless Old Miss Withersworth down the street is your Facebook friend, you’re reaching a whole different (and obviously local) audience.
Please let me know if you’ve picked up any tips organizing in your area, and also link to pics of your event. And give us the bottom line, how much did your bake sale earn? Where did you decide to donate?
Some bake sales take months of planning and lots of conference calls and committees and red tape. Well, forget the red tape, we want red velvet! When you need to put together a bake sale fast there’s no other way to do it then just to do it. Sadly in the past few years there have been so many tragedies that called for immediate action. Katrina and the Tsunami both come to mind. And now Haiti.
There are lots of other ways to raise fund and volunteers, but a bake sale has the added benefit of giving us a feeling of community and relieving us of some of the despair we might feel. Falling into a depression helps no one, and even if it seems like our 25 dollars or 250 dollars or 2500 dollars isn’t enough, every bit counts. And you can’t put a price on mental health. Keeping spirits up and letting people know that we care is priceless.
If you don’t already have a group of bake sale ninjas waiting in the wings, ready to spring at any given moment, then the best place to start is the internet. Put a call out on local message boards, facebook and twitter. Email all your friends and family. Even if they aren’t vegan, have ready some vegan recipes for them and help them along the way. It’s for a great cause, hopefully they will be receptive to it. Get a little group of people together to get things started. Once that’s in place, delegate the next steps.
Location: It might be hard to procure a location last minute - especially one that will let you have the bake sale free of charge. But once they know that it’s for a good cause, some places that might be open to it are churches, temples, community centers, libraries, and food co-ops. Public schools are a maybe, but usually there is a lot of bureaucracy that you would be best to avoid. You might also have luck with a local bar. Try not to pick a super sleazy one. A well lit, non-smoking bar that doesn’t have a lot of lushes hanging out 24/7 is a great place for a bakesale. Depending on state laws they will let the under 21 crowd in before 7pm or so, and they do appreciate the crowd a bake sale brings. Cause hey, beers and cupcakes go great together.
If it’s a nice day, you might also opt to have your bake sale outdoors. Again, it depends on the laws and how nice the cops will be. If it’s for a good cause, you probably won’t face harrassment, but use your best judgment. Pick a street with foot traffic where you won’t be to in the way. Maybe in front of a closed store or a school building? Don’t plop down in front of a business unless they’ve said it’s ok. Outside a public park that gets a lot visitors is also a great place.
What to serve: Make everything vegan of course! Make sure nothing is store bought. Cakes, cupcakes, cinnamon rolls, sandwich cookies, rice krispie treats, whoopie pies…these are always the first to go. Quick breads and muffins seem like big winners but unless they are covered in chocolate they always seem to be left to the end. Cookies are great to sell in bulk if you’ve got a lot of little ones. Make deals like 7 cookies for 5 dollars, or a dollar each. That way they’ll spend the extra bucks to get 2 “free” cookies. Have cute plastic bags to pack them in. Savory items like tamales or samosas can be a nice surprise. I’ll be putting up a few Bake Sale Greatest Hits recipes in a bit.
How to serve: It’s great if people bring their baked goods already plastic wrapped, but it’s fine if they don’t. The organizers should bring lots of plates and platters to display the baked goods beautifully. Here’s a great tip: Have tiered displays to lead the eye. An interesting display means you’ll bring in more bucks. Have cake stands or organizing trays to create different heights. If you don’t have cake stands, great creative. Place a bowl upside down and a plate on top of that.
Keep things sanitary by using tongs and wax paper to grab the goods. Have napkins available, and plastic bags so that people can take home a lot. Have pie slicers and spatulas as needed. Hopefully participants will bring these things, but as an organizer it’s a good idea to provide them just in case.
Ask people to bring an ingredients list for their goods, but no biggie if they don’t. Bring scrap paper and colored markers to make cute signs. Fashion them together with tape and toothpicks. Table cloths are great if the tables you’re using aren’t the most beautiful.
Have some forks and to go containers in case people want to buy a lot of stuff, and many people are willing to spend 20 bucks if you give them the means to get it all home.
How to get people there: Flier the neighborhood! Use community boards, telephone polls (if it’s not a big legal issue), hand fliers out to people face to face. If you’re doing handouts then print out four fliers on one sheet of paper then cut them (to conserve paper). Contact your local paper and local news, let them know about the event. There is probably a local blog in your area, contact them, too. Hey, contact the mayor’s office and let them know. You never know who will show up! If you can direct them to a blog with more info then that would be awesome. Make sure to create a Facebook page and annoy everyone with invites.
This is what I can think of off the top of my head. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask and if you have anything to add, please chime in! I’ll update this as ideas are added.
As you must know by now, Haiti was struck with a devastating earthquake that has killed tens of thousands of people and caused who only knows how much destruction. It was already a sucky time for Haitians and this is just heartbreaking.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t get over there to volunteer and I don’t like the feeling of being utterly useless and hopeless. This afternoon I put out a call for bake sale volunteers on twitter and facebook and I got a really great response. I’m hoping that we can not only raise money, raise awareness but also remind ourselves of what really matters. Cupcakes! Wait, no…community!
I’m writing this note to have a central place to exchange info and help organize in our areas. Let’s show our support for the people of Haiti and harm no animals in the process.
If you are planning a bake sale, please get in touch here or email me: postpunkkitchen@gmail.com. I will update this list as more info becomes available. If you have other ideas for helping out then let us know!
The list, in no discernible order:
Portland Vegan Bake Sale For Haiti: Sunday January 31st, 2 PM to 5 PM, People’s CoOp upstairs, 3029 Southeast 21st Avenue. There is a Facebook invite for this event here. All proceeds going to Mercy Corps.
NYC Vegan Bake Sale For Haiti: Sunday January 31st, 11:30am to 6:00pm at Moo Shoes, 78 Orchard Street. There is a Facebook invite for this event here. All proceeds will go to Doctors Without Borders.
NYC Mini Vegan Bake Sale For Haiti: Hosted by SuperVegan & Vegan Drinks, Jan. 28, 7pm-9pm Angels & Kings Bar, 500 East 11th Street. Volunteer info at http://supervegan.com/blog/entry.php?id=1402
Omaha Vegan Bake Sale For Haiti: Sunday January 24th, noon to 2Pm at McFosters. There is a Facebook invite for this event here. All proceeds going to Mercy Corps.
LA Vegan Bake Sale For Haiti: Sunday, January 31, 11:00am - 4:00pm, Locali - 5825 Franklin Avenue. There is a Facebook invite for the event here.
Sacramento Vegan Bake Sale For Haiti: Saturday, January 16, 2010 - 10:00 AM - 3:00PM, R5 Records - 2500 16th Street, Sacramento, CA 95818. Benefiting: Red Cross: Haiti Relief and Development
Sacramento Vegan Bake Sale For Haiti II: Saturday 1/23, 11am to 3pm, Sugar Plum Vegan Cafe 2315 K. Street. All money will go to Food for Life Global–an organization that is bringing vegan meals to those in need in Haiti
Orange County Vegan Bake Sale For Haiti: Sat 1/16 noon- whenever 2814 Newport Blvd, Newport Beach, CA .Contact krislegeek@blogspot.com with any questions or advice!
San Luis Obispo, CA Vegan Bake Sale For Haiti: The Central Coast Vegetarian Network is hosting the bake sale on Saturday, 1/30, 10 am to 2 pm, at Vons in San Luis Obispo, 3900 Broad Street. The sale will benefit Partners in Health. It is scheduled as a meetup for members of the CCVN. The facebook invitation is here.
Takoma Park, MD: Sunday Jan 24, 10am-2pm. Takoma Park Farmers Market
Falls Church, VA: Saturday Feb 6, 10:30am-2:30pm, Falls Plaza Giant supermarket
Miami Vegan Bake Sale For Haiti: Date is set for 1/31, more details to come. Contact kimberly@alaskanstar.com
Minneapolis Vegan Bake Sale For Haiti: Animal Rights Coalition on Saturday January 30 from 12pm-5pm. 317 W 48th Street. There’s a Facebook invite page for this event here.
Philly Vegan Bake Sale For Haiti: Saturday 1/16, 11:30AM till the baked goods run out. Siren Records, 25 E State St in Doylestown, Contact jkw1975@gmail.com if you have questions or would like to help out.
Akron Vegan Bake Sale for Haiti: Saturday, January 23rd, 11am to 5pm, Vegiterranean restaurant, contact cwhy1@hotmail.com if you are interested in providing vegan baked goods for the sale. More info here: http://akronbakesaleforhaiti.wordpress.com/
Seattle Vegan Bake Sale For Haiti: Sun 1/31, 2pm to 5pm, Neptune Coffee 8415 Greenwood Ave North. There is a Facebook invite page here.
Ottawa, Ontario Vegan Bake Sale For Haiti: Saturday, January 30th. Location and time TBA. Still looking for more volunteers - contact keira_zikmanis@hotmail.com
Milwaukee’s Vegan Bake Sale for Haiti: Saturday, January 30, 12-5PM at Riverwest Co-op, 733 E. Clarke St. 100% of all profits will be matched and donated to American Red Cross. Please email or visit veganbakesale.nailedtothenightlife.net with questions, comments, or if you want to lend a hand.
Las Vegas Vegan Bake Sale For Haiti: Tuesday 1/26, UNLV, 4505 S Maryland Pkwy, 11 AM. Please see the meetup group for planning details and get involved! http://www.meetup.com/vegasveg/calendar/12351580/
Atlanta Vegan Bake Sale For Haiti: Sat 1/30, details TBA, please contac vegananderson@gmail.com to get involved!
Chicago Vegan Bake Sale For Haiti: Sun 1/31 at Greenheart, 1911 W. Division, noon until 5:00. Email marla@veganstreet.com for donating time and/or goodies.
Little Rock (Mostly*) Vegan Bake Sale For Haiti: Sat 2/6 at the White Water Tavern. 2500 West 7th Street. Facebook event here: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#/event.php?eid=256204152103&ref=nf *Event is being organized by a vegan and stressing vegan baking but will not turn away not vegan baked goods if they show up. I am listing this anyway because it is a small town that doesn’t have many vegans and hopefully this will be the start of something good!
Denton Texas Vegan Bake Sale For Haiti: Also a craft sale! Wed 1/27, 9:15 PM, Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios, 411 E. Sycamor. Facebook invite here.
Houston Vegan Bake Sale For Haiti: Sun, 1/24 from noon-4pm at Mango’s Veg Cafe. Sponsored by Society of PEACE with proceeds going to benefit both the people and animals of Haiti. For more information on how to get involved, visit: http://www.vegansocietyofpeace.org
Austin Vegan Bake Sale For Haiti: Sunday 1/24, noon-4pm, 10000 Villages 1317 South Congress Avenue. The Facebook invite is here.
New Orleans Vegan Bake Sale For Haiti: Sat, 2/6, 11am - 3pm. Near the Whole Foods on Magazine Street in Uptown. For more information, contact: taylorroyle@gmail.com
Join the Apron Activists for a holiday bake sale at The Bye & Bye, Saturday December 12th from 2pm until only crumbs are left!
There will be tempting treats as far as they eye can see. You can pick up boxes of cookies to send as gifts or just pop in for a cupcake! This bakesale is not to be missed. Biscotti! Donuts! Muffins! Cinnamon rolls! Pumpkin Pie! Gingerbread! We’ll have it all.
We’ll be raising money for the Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary, a scenic haven south of Portland OR that provides safe harbor to farm animals, each with a story to tell. We’re very excited to lend them our support!
To participate: Tie on your favorite apron and bake up some vegan goodness. Bring your treats to the Bye-N-Bye between 2 and 4pm (we’ll be selling until we’re sold out!) It would be really cool if you could provide a printed out ingredients list, too, that way if people have allergies or preferences they can size up their options.
