Whiz Kid: 11-Year-Old Raises Money for Charities

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Jessica Kunkel of Sappington is 11 years old. This past May she held her 5th annual bake sale/lemonade stand for charity.

Each year, for the past 5 years, Jessica, her mom, and her Grandma bake cookies, cupcakes, pies and more for Jessica's bake sale.

Every year, family, friends and neighbors stop by on bake sale day to make a donation to the bake sale. Faculty, staff and classmates from the school she attends, Firm Foundation Christian Academy in Arnold, also participate in making donations to her fund raising efforts as well.
 
Each year Jessica selects charitable organizations to donate all of the bake sale donations to, such as: Operation Christmas Child and Feed The Children. This year, Jessica selected The Missouri Baptist Home for Girls and the Down Syndrome Association (DSA) of Greater St. Louis, which benefits the lives of people with Down Syndrome and their families through individual and family support, education, public awareness and advocacy.

On June 3, she attended the Step Up for Down Syndrome walk in Forest Park to show her support for DSA and to present a check for $500, part of the proceeds from her bake sale, to DSA on behalf the Dawson Lawrence family.

The remainder of the donations from the bake sale were given to The Missouri Baptist Home for Girls to help them buy much needed items for the girls at the home.