Nine-year old Jennifer McDonnal heard the stories and saw the suffering on TV and wanted to help.  She had $20 left from what she had earned during the summer and she decided to give it all to the hurricane victims.  Twenty dollars is a lot of money to Jennifer, but compared to the amount that was needed for hurricane relief, even she knew that it was very small.  If there was a way she could, somehow, make that $20 grow into more money – even if it was by one dollar -- it would be worth it. 

She decided she wanted to hold a church bake sale – put on by the kids at Carmel Presbyterian Church.  And, she wanted to do it as soon as possible. 

While the church was extremely supportive of her idea, there was a small bit of protocol – such as Board approval -- that needed to be followed before she could execute her plan. Jennifer received the go-ahead on a Wednesday for a bake sale to be held on the church patio the very next Sunday.

And, while four days may seem like a reasonable amount of time to pull together a small bake sale, Jennifer had other commitments during that time, as well – such as school and homework.  As of Wednesday evening, she still had to call her church friends for support and map out a plan for how to execute the sale.

And then there was the matter of how best to spend her $20 for the event.  She bought six brownie mixes (on sale for $1.50 each), a large bag of M&Ms to add for brownie decorations, a package of pre-baked Costco muffins (in case she didn’t have enough brownies) and a large foam poster board on which to create a sign for the sale.

“Every minute of Jennifer’s spare time from Wednesday to Sunday morning was spent on bake sale plans,” says her mother.  “She generated a ‘to do’ list on Friday night and, even with her mother’s help, said “I didn’t think we’d be able to get it all done by Sunday.”

The final concern was what to say to the congregation on Sunday morning when the pastor would give Jennifer the opportunity to announce the bake sale to the congregation. “Out of the blue, on Saturday afternoon, Jennifer said, ‘If I don’t sell anything tomorrow, I won’t have any money left to donate to the hurricane victims,’” recalls her mother.  “And, while I knew that she’d be able to recoup her costs – even if I had to buy all her brownies from her – I told her she was correct.  And then her mother added, ‘That’s why your ‘speech’ in front of the congregation is so important.  You have to motivate people to support the sale.”

Motivate she did.  But the people of nearly the 400-member Carmel Presbyterian Church didn’t need much motivation.  Even before the start of the first morning service, baked goods arrived in large quantities from people Jennifer hadn’t even had a chance to talk to about the sale.  Her friends showed up, too, bright and early as promised, to help her set-up and work the table.  And, upon completion of each of the morning services, the congregation of Carmel Presbyterian Church rallied around the bake sale table in a show of support that was nothing short of amazing.    

Jennifer’s $20 investment grew steadily throughout the morning.  By the end of the sale, over $1,580 had been collected in support of the Salvation Army’s Hurricane Relief Fund. 

“A little hard work and a lot of trust go a long way,” says Jennifer.  “But,” she added, “the real secret to the sale’s success was that God was right there with us.”

Speech Jennifer McDonnal gave to the Carmel Presbyterian Church Congregation

Hi, my name is Jennifer McDonnal.  This summer I earned $20 that I wanted to give to the victims of Hurricane Katrina but I wanted to see if I could turn that money into even more money.  Did you know that, through the Salvation Army, $100 will feed a family of four for 2 days, provide 2 cases of drinking water and one household cleaning kit?

My idea was to have a Children’s Ministry Bake Sale, spend my $20 on supplies, and ask my CPC friends and family to help and see how much money, together, we could raise for the Salvation Army.  Thanks to many of you, we have an awesome selection of baked goods for sale on the patio, so stop by after the service.  And, together, let’s see how much money we can raise!