Sweet teens bake cookies for charities

BAKERS' DELIGHT-Rebecca Elbaum, 15, left, and Rachel Greenfield, 14, both Calabasas High School students, prepare cookies for distribution through their cookie club. Baking can be fun for some people, but it always puts a smile on the faces of those who eat the finished product.

Rebecca Elbaum and her friend Rachel Greenfield, both 15-yearold Calabasas High School students, recently created "Cookies for Cures," a baking event that recently benefited the American Cancer Society and a Camarillo transitional living center for homeless single adults and families with children.

"For my birthday party this year, I had some friends over for a cookie exchange," Rebecca said. "Everyone brought two-dozen homemade cookies to share, and we decorated trays to take them home."

Rebecca said she and Rachel had so much fun at the party they were prompted to come up with a "Cookies for Cures" event for several families they know, where they'd collect money and decorate trays of cookies to be donated to worthy organizations. The girls hosted "Cookies for Cures" on a recent Sunday.

"We both have different cures and causes that we are passionate about, so picking one was a difficult task," Rebecca said. "We finally decided that cancer has affected both of us in one way or another and unfortunately it has affected almost everyone. We thought people would be willing to donate even more if they were also connected to the cure."

The recent event collected over $600, which the girls sent to the American Cancer Society.

The girls also sent over 400 cookies to the transitional center. Rachel said they chose to donate to such a center because the people at transitional centers are those who aren't just looking for handouts, but are helping themselves.

Rebecca added that the cookie trays could later be used for organizing desk materials, toys, paper and other items.

Those who participated in the recent "Cookies for Cures" event made cards to go along with the cookies.

"It makes us feel good that we are putting all of this time and energy into a cause greater than ourselves," Rebecca said.

Rebecca and Rachel hope to expand on the "Cookies for Cures" idea with bigger events.

"We would like to start a 'Cookies for Cures' club at school and fund raise for other (causes)," Rebecca said. "We have also talked about doing various bake sales to raise money and doing special events during the holiday time."

For two girls who enjoy baking and helping others, "Cookies for Cures" has allowed them to have their cookie and eat it, too.