An 11-year-old Summerland girl has raised more than $4,600 to support a toy drive.
Blake Karlson, with help from friends, baked 5,480 sugar cookies, or 455 dozen cookies.
The cookie sales brought in $4,635, which will go to the Summerland Fire Department香蕉视频直播檚 Toys and Toonies for Tots and Teens drive.
Each cookie measures a little more than 7.6 centimetres long, which means if all the cookies baked were to be lined up end-to-end, the line would be around 0.42 kilometres, or roughly the entire length of Main Street in Summerland.
This is the sixth year Karlson has been baking cookies for this cause.
Producing this volume of cookies is an involved process, and Karlson had help from family and friends.
In addition, she was able to use the oven at Murray香蕉视频直播檚 Pizza one evening, after the pizza shop had closed for the night. This is the second year the pizza shop provided the use of its oven.
The baking process took eight hours. Then, around 15 volunteers spent five hours icing the cookies.
During the whole production process, Karlson ate just two of the cookies.
The fundraising sale was advertised on Facebook from Nov. 1 to 15. Then, the baking took place on Nov. 15.
Cookies were sold to customers in Summerland and Penticton, including some sales to people who purchased multiple packs and then distributed them to friends and neighbours.
Nigel Thomas, a firefighter with the Summerland Fire Department, said Karlson香蕉视频直播檚 cookie fundraiser brought in more money than the fire department香蕉视频直播檚 recent pancake breakfast.
That breakfast, held at Second Home Cafe on the morning of Nov. 30, served 245 breakfasts and raised $4,300 for the toy drive.
The Toys and Toonies for Tots and Teens drive, now in its 37th year, collects gifts and cash donations during the festive season. The cause helps families in need in the community, with gifts distributed through the Summerland Food Bank and Resource Centre.
