Helloooo, bake sale family!
We have missed you all VERY much, and we’re back with a killer menu. We’re not ending the bake sale any time soon, but we will be having them less frequently because I (Ari) have been working full time and don’t have the bandwidth I once did to do weekly bake sales!
I’ll sum up where we donated way back when we had our last bake sale, as well as this week’s menu, and then I’ll explain more about the bake sale moving forward!
We’re back just in time to celebrate Juneteenth, and all profits from this week’s bake sale will be donated to racial justice work that celebrates Blackness and combats anti-Black racism and racial injustice. The menu is posted, and the order form is open!
The deadline to order is Friday at midnight(ish), and orders will be ready for pickup and delivery on Sunday like usual. The menu is four bake sale favorites that we feel are hard to find anywhere else:
Ari’s Cinnamon Buttermilk Crumb Cake
Linda’s Salted Fudgy Night Brownies
Hannah’s Salted Peanut Butter Cookies (Hannah is my best friend and an INCREDIBLE baker!)
Ari’s Fancy Granola (we know you’ve missed it…)
Make sure to place your order and tell your friends! As always, 100% of profits will be donated to WONDERFUL racial and social justice organizations, and 100% of the goodies will be made with love.
We’re hoping to squeeze in another bake sale this June to celebrate pride month — it would involve rainbow cookies and donations to queer-led, queer community-serving organizations! Stay tuned!
Our last bake sale, a whole two months ago, raised $939!!!! That means that in less than a year, over 42 bake sales, our community raised $31,662 to support racial and social justice. WOW. It has been an absolute honor to do this with you all. Thank you for being a part of this, from the bottoms of our hearts.
We donated $313 each to Food Forward, South L.A. Cafe, and LA CAN (Community Action Network)! This email is going to be way too long if I elaborate on why I love each of these orgs, but to sum it up, they are grassroots groups led by caring people and their work is promoting racial and social justice through food access, education, and activism right in our L.A. community! We’re so proud to support them! Read about them on their websites, and feel free to ask me more about them!
Okay, now a little update on our family and the bake sale!
Around the time of the last bake sale, I randomly decided to apply to work as a cook. I got the job (stop by U Street Pizza and say hi!), and have been working ever since! It’s a pretty demanding job but now that I’ve gotten my footing, I’ve found some time to do the bake sale alongside my new schedule.
Of course, the continuation of the bake sale wouldn’t be possible without my family, especially my mom, Linda! This is and always has been a family effort, and now more than ever, we’re coming together to make it happen. My brothers, Aidan and Avery, help with the math, texts, deliveries, and cleaning, my dad Chip helps a little with everything, my mom is a queen of finding good ingredients and my baking partner, and even my friend Hannah who is staying with us helps to bake and keep track of orders!
We thought about ending the bake sale, but none of us could stomach it. Partly for selfish reasons — we’ve felt more connected to this community by getting to know all of you, and that’s very special to us (in other words, we miss you!).
But we also feel a sense of duty. We were called to action by the murder of George Floyd a year ago. We should have been more active in the fight for racial justice before that, and we’re sure as heck not stepping back just because we got a little busy.
We all have a duty to do our part, using our unique skills and circumstances to contribute to our communities and our futures. It’s not all about volunteering thousands of hours or making huge donations (though that’s good stuff). It’s about finding our lanes. For me, the best way I can contribute is with my food skills.
No matter how busy we are, we can always be part of the change, especially if we work together and work smart. Sounds cheesy, but it’s the truth, and in our case, it means that you still get cookies! And by the way, I’m always here if you want to talk about finding your lane in the fight for racial and social justice 🙂
For the next couple of months, we’re hoping to do bake sales once every couple of weeks or so! Then in late August, I’ll be moving to Berkeley to finish school, but my mom is planning to do smaller bake sales (whooo!!!!) and I’ll be helping from a distance.
We’re considering doing an in-person cookie and lemonade bake sale one of these days so we can all finally meet and have a good time while raising funds! Let me know if that sounds fun to you, or if there’s anything you hope to see on a menu soon!
Long term, I’m planning to open a food business of some kind which supports community social justice work, so bear with us through this next year and we’ll be back with all sorts of goodies!
Aaaanywhoo, I can’t wait to hear from you all soon and get you some much-needed baked goods! Make sure to place your order by Friday at midnight, and keep in mind that it might be a little while before we do another bake sale, so you may want to stock up!
With much love and solidarity (and excitement!),
The Louies
LOUIES BAKE for JUSTICE 