'Parade' Cooks Up a Good Cause

By: Rafe Bartholomew Parade magazine and the nonprofit organization Share Our Strength (SOS) are teaming to hold "The Great American Bake Sale" to fight child hunger.

Starting with a Parade cover story April 27 on childhood hunger in America, the philanthropy is asking people to hold bake sales and donate the proceeds to SOS between now and July 22. Corporate sponsors include the ABC TV network, Betty Crocker, Tyson Foods, and Reynolds Consumer Products.

Parade is recruiting more support from its affiliated dailies, which will be running stories about the effort, providing free ad space, holding newsroom bake sales, and sponsoring reader bake-offs, said Parade Publisher Jack Griffin.

The bake sale could become the biggest fund-raising event SOS has ever organized. "Our projections," said Griffin, "are certainly in the seven-figure range."