Haiti Relief Bake Sale

We organized a Bake Sale three weeks ago to raise funds for the victims of the recent Haitian earthquake victims. It was amazing. We had aimed to raise $10,000 (I secretly thought we could make $15k), and even then, there were many skeptical people, even amongst the planning committee members. Even I fell under the spell of skepticism at one point during the planning and doubted we could even hitting the $10k goal. Everything was almost a week behind schedule, including getting approval and finding donations of baked goods. It was a very stressful and chaotic time. Budgeting had not been done. We needed one more oven. There were not enough volunteers to bake and man the stall. The announcement for the sale went out one week before the actual event, I was thrown outfield on that same week, and donations of goods hadn’t even come in. Yet, God always provides. On our first day of sales, my mother asked me how much we had raised and when asked to guess the amount, she said $50.

So many small miracles happened. We received a generous donation that covered the cost of all the ingredients for the brownies and cupcakes we were going to bake. The re-opening of the canteen; which was supposed to be during that weekend, was postponed, thus eliminating competition. I managed to find a power socket while outfield and could charge my cell phone (my phone battery lasts about 10hrs with use) and thus managed to at least coordinate some of things happening, and not die of boredom. On Thursday and Friday, donations poured in, someone even donated 20 chicken pies and 20 banana pound cakes. We had so many donations by Saturday, I was worried that we wouldn’t be able to sell everything. I managed to convince enough people to help with the selling, and it turned out I didn’t need so many bakers, the kitchens were full with just 3 people already.

However, that wasn’t enough to raise my faith. The donations that poured in raised moral, and yet still the worry lingered. I pressed on though, stubbornly telling all the skeptics that we would raise $10k, even though my heart questioned. I wondered whether we would raise $5k and at least sell all our goods.

That weekend, God truly thought this doubting Thomas a lesson in faith.

I am still amazed and awed in an Augustinian way of how God still shows mercy on me despite all my shortcomings and doubts which make me continually turn away from the Creator, He that made all things. You are truly merciful Lord.

When my mother asked me on the first night, how much we had made, my reply was $3,217. Three thousand and two hundred dollars all from one mass! A far cry from the meager $50 that she proposed. The donation boxes were filled with blue and orange notes. Almost all of the bake goods were sold out. All my brownies had been sold! That was when I realized the power of He who can do all. I knew then that we would hit the $10k, even the $15k.

However, God was not done with me yet. The final amount that we raised over that weekend was $17,850.54. Nearly double that we had predicted and it had far surpassed my expectations. It had far surpassed anyone’s expectations. I was told later that bake sales like this were lucky if they raised even $1500. It truly shows what God can do with a little faith.

Gloria in excelsis Deo. Gratias agimus propter magnum gloriam tuam. It was truly you who ensured that more than enough money would be raised to rebuild the fallen city Lord.

A big thank you for all those involved in the sale, especially to my planning committee, the Youth Rockers Bible Study, Generation Christ and the Young Adults Ministry, my mother, Vivian Liu, Aunty Kathy, Beatrice Ng, Uncle Kenneth, Aunty Gin, the lovely children of the Primary 6 Catechism class and their teacher Uncle Mark, Marie Lee, Michelle and Marie Thio, Aunty Nancy, Aunty Margeret, Aunty Jacqui and Aunty Pauline, Frances Tang, Coco Tree, Simply Bread and all those I have not mentioned. The biggest (well second biggest) thank you is to you, the parishioners. You were responsible for this success. Through your prayers and kind generosity, you have helped to rebuild Haiti.

‘For men,’ he told them, ‘this is impossible; for God, everything is possible’ – Matt 19:26

PS: Since then, we have received a few cheques and the loving substantial donation of a most generous Secondary Four student with a big heart, and it is with this that we now have raised over $18,000 for the Haitians.