Cookies Can Make A Difference This Holiday Season

From Dough4Good: Cathy Daniel is an Emmy award winning TV producer who's annual Michigan Cookie Exchange helped spark the global cookie campaign #dough4good.

She started hosting her annual cookie-cocktail party for TV friends in her tiny NYC apartment 16 years ago. The "cookie party" gave her a way to celebrate memories of baking holiday cookies with her mom (whom she lost during the holidays shortly after graduating from MSU) and toasts the start of the holiday season with her signature cocktail "the mistletoe," tons of holiday cookies and her NYC circle of friends.

Two years ago, 100+ people packed her tiny Manhattan apartment. So last year, she decided to turn this soiree into a charitable cause! What if every guest donated just $1? That's when she teamed up with Rachel Doyle - a real rockstar who was featured in Oprah for starting GlamourGals (GG).

She connected with Rachel after seeing her featured in Oprah! GG is a nonprofit who's mission is to help end elder loneliness. The two organize and inspire teen volunteer chapters around the US to provide companionship and complimentary beauty makeovers to women in senior homes. Their teen leaders may be the only visitors these seniors have during the entire year- let alone the holidays.

Rachel has her own holiday cookie inspiration so it was a perfect pairing. What happened next was incredible- Cathy's guests surpassed their goal 10 times over- raising $1K last year in her mother's honor! Now that's some dough! This year, GG launched the #dough4good campaign with 3 sweet ways to make a difference this holiday season and it's as easy as baking cookies!

Simply host a cookie exchange fundraiser (or make a #doughnation), share a special cookie story or gift The Cookie Book. The Cookie Book was released on Dec. 18th to any supporter who donates $18 or more to the campaign. It features select cookie recipes passed down to top chefs like TV's Bizarre Food's host Andrew Zimmern and the creator of Oprah's Favorite Things Cookie from 2017, as well as actress Lacey Chabert ( best known for Mean Girls and Hallmark Christmas movies ) and top culinary talents from Paris to NYC. It also includes crowd sourced cookie stories and pics from our volunteers and supporters through their website.

Cathy recently held her 17th annual Michigan Cookie Exchange and despite the horrible weather, more than 50 people showed up to mingle, jingle, swap cookies and sip on cocktails. So far her circle has raised more than $1k this year for #dough4good. But there’s still time for anyone to show their support and make a difference. Every dollar counts.

Images via Dough4Good