Baking to Build Community

This holiday season the Campus Corps team at Fort Peck Community College, located in Poplar, MT on the Fort Peck Reservation, came together to brighten the holiday season for a local family in need. With the knowledge that many of their fellow FPCC students are burdened by the constant struggle to make ends meet, and are especially financially strained during the holiday season, they decided to participate in a Family Sponsorship for one such family. This was certainly no easy task for the group of already busy college students, as it entailed raising enough money to buy gifts for each of the family members and additionally providing them with a Christmas dinner.

In order to make this happen, Corps members directed their efforts to the kitchen and organized a campus bake sale to raise the funds needed for their sponsorship.  They strategically set up a table in a centrally located area during finals, in hopes that they could entice students by offering them a much needed study break during this busy time in the semester.  Their clever business plan worked and the bake sale ended up lasting for two entire weeks with a constant flow of baked goods arriving each day! The bake sale impressively raised a grand total of $277 and combined with donations from number of generous community members whom they reached out to, the Campus Corps team in total raised over $350 dollars! Furthermore, they contacted the local grocery store who agreed to provide a Christmas dinner for the family free of charge.

FPCC Campus Corps leader Katie Wise directed her team in this holiday initiative and was very impressed by the efforts of her team members as well as by the overwhelming generosity of the local community.  She says that she attributes the success to "a lot of different baking recipes, a lot of fun, and A LOT of sugar"! With two weeks of non-stop baking I am sure Katie is right, but what better way to sweeten one's holiday season than with treats for a good cause?