March Madness goes from brackets to baking
Students make over 14,000 cookies for soup kitchen in contest
BY CHRIS GAETANO
Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY SCOTT PILLING staff Students at Cambridge School help prepare baked goods that will be sent to the Trenton Soup Kitchen as part of the Before and After School Program's March Madness Cookie Baking Contest.

SOUTH BRUNSWICK - For students and staff in the school district, being hungry just shouldn't be how the cookie crumbles.

Conceived by the Before and After School Program in each of the elementary schools, what has been dubbed the March Madness Cookie Baking Contest has also attracted staff members, parents and older students to the month-long drive to bake as many cookies and other deserts for the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen.

According to School Age Care Manager Sheila Barry, who thought of the idea, South Brunswick had baked more than 14,000 cookies by press time, with many more still to come. Barry said that students in the Before and After School Programs in the elementary schools, combined with a family and consumer science class in the high school, parents and staff members produce about 500 cookies a day for the soup kitchen.

Eden Turner, a second-grader at Cambridge Elementary School, helps package cookies that will be sent to the Trenton Soup Kitchen as part of the March Madness Cookie Baking Contest.

"I never dreamed it would be this much," said Barry. "The work they've put into this is tremendous."

The cookies, an endless variety ranging from chocolate chip to sugar and everything in between, are taken to the soup kitchen three to four times a week in the back of Barry's car. She said she got the idea when she read an ad in a newspaper about the need for volunteers there. According to Ann Orth, the volunteer coordinator at the soup kitchen, staff receive many donations of other foods, but do not receive desserts very often. On average, about 1,000 people are served by the soup kitchen each day.

The original contest, according to Barry, said that only the students can participate, but that since some had only sporadic access to kitchens, it was extended to its current parameters. Each school keeps track of how many cookies are baked there and at the end of the month Barry intends to give the one that made the most some form of recognition. She said that she is already looking to buy some trophies and maybe hold a small party for the winners.

"We're really trying to play up the competition thing," said Barry.

The contest itself is one of many community service projects the before and after school programs do, with each one being expected to do at least one project a month, though Barry said that nothing of this scale had ever been done before.

"This project has been particularly successful because a large number of the programs are participating, and therefore a lot of cookies are being donated," said Barry.

She said that she was very proud of the cookie project because not only was it helping to feed people in need but also teaching children baking. She said baking helps children develop math and science skills and an appreciation for home-cooked food.

"I am very proud of this project, and I'm very proud of all of the people who have participated. I keep thinking about the fact that over this last month, there have been thousands of cookies baked throughout the district for this one goal. How cool is that?" Barry said.

People can still participate through the end of March. Cookies can be made or bought but should be packaged five at a time in sandwich bags before being dropped off or picked up. For more information, contact Sheila Barry at (732) 297-7800 ext. 3197.