Ava’s Story
“We raised $700 for the Knights of Columbus Christmas hampers”
Morinville residents Ava Arcand (age 7) and sister Gracie Arcand (age 9) are once again baking and delivering cookies this Christmas season in return for donations. With the help of their mom, the sisters thought up the project last year and 400+ cookies later, donated $700 to the Knights of Columbus for Christmas hampers. This year's proceeds will be shared between the Knights of Columbus and the Alberta Porphyria Society; Ava and Gracie are accepting orders for delivery within Morinville until Dec. 7.
Ava's Story was featured in the Farm 'n' Friends Newspaper, December, 2014. (--photo by Cynthia Wandler)
Baking Morinville family volunteers time and money for charity
Last Christmas, as Morinville sisters Gracie and Ava Arcand were writing out their Christmas lists, they decided they wanted to do something to help less fortunate families in Morinville. In discussion with their mom, they decided to bake cookies for donations. Mom Karri expected a few orders from family members but after she posted it on Facebook, she and the girls found themselves baking and delivering over 400 cookies. They raised $700 for the Knights of Columbus Christmas hampers, a campaign supported by their school, École Notre Dame Elementary. A year later, the nine and seven year old sisters have donned their Christmas aprons once again.
The Christmas carols playing in the background are interrupted by the sound of cracking eggs and guidance from Karri as her daughters work together to make the cookie dough. Karri explains she’s the one who brought it up this year to see if the girls, aged nine and seven, wanted to repeat last year’s fundraising efforts. “I wouldn’t even say I encouraged them. I was hoping they would say no, to be honest,” Karri laughs. “It’s the time,” she explains. “But I thought if they wanted to, how could I stop them from doing this, right?” And at 36 dozen cookies planned so far, ten minutes of baking time per dozen is indeed time consuming. Nonetheless, the family is committed, with the girls helping to package and label each dozen once they are baked.
Gracie explains the hardest part of the process is “trying not to eat the cookie dough” while Ava reports it’s “trying to get my mom not to be so tidy, she always cleans up after us!” As for the best part, Ava likes the baking itself but Gracie loves the shopping for gifts to donate that comes afterward.
This year’s proceeds will be shared between the Knights of Columbus and the Alberta Porphyria Society. The suggestion to split the proceeds this year was Karri’s idea, since Ava suffers from a rare genetic disorder called erythropoietic protoporphyria, a reaction to the sun which causes severe pain and blistering. Ava feels “good” about being able to help the society out.
As for the financial cost of the ingredients, Karri says, “You know what? I never even calculated.”