By Kate Hindin

I am a huge fan of food. I love to eat it, make it, shop for it and watch shows about it, so when my supervisor told me that I was going to be judging a bake-sale contest benefiting the Food Bank, I could not have been happier!

Marina Maher Communications decided to have a buildingwide bake sale, with proceeds benefiting the Food Bank. When I spoke with Cathy (MMC’s enthusiastic bake-sale organizer) she figured that a bake sale was a perfect way to get people involved in hunger relief, have some healthy inter-office competition and sweeten up an otherwise rainy Thursday!

I reported for my tasting duties, and Cathy escorted me into an empty conference room with a small table lined with plates of bars and brownies. I was instructed to taste and then judge each confection and secretly place the ballot in an envelope that was quickly whisked away to accounting for the final tally. I then got to bestow the winner of each category (Brownies/Bars, Cakes/Cupcakes/Breads/Muffins, Cookies, No Bake and Pies/Tarts) with their prizes along with a Food Bank T-shirt and pin. The winners were gracious and proud, as they should have been – the bake sale raised $454, enough to help provide more than 2,250 meals to hungry New Yorkers!

If you would like to learn more about fundraising for the Food Bank For New York City, please contact me. We are always looking for new and creative ways to get people involved (and if it includes food, even better!).