Payback Time

The Big Bake

How lucky were we to have use of a commercial bakery?! If you've never set foot inside a commercial bakery, you just might be missing out. This bakery could have easily made it onto Cribs, but instead of a walk-in closet, you'd see a walk-in oven. No joke.

The bakery staff gave us a quick walk-through and instructed us on how to use the industrial equipment. Kitchenaid's got nothing on this mixer...

Not only were we able to bake our brownies en masse, but we had a blast while doing it!

All in all, we baked, cut, and packaged over 300 brownies on Tuesday. No small feat!

***If you've reached this site after a brownie purchase, or would simply like to leave your thoughts on the project, please feel free to comment!***

Let the baking begin!!!

Brownie baking began this weekend and we're ready to sell sell sell! A couple of the team members got together to come up with a message to include on the individual brownies to promote awareness and shed light on our project.

Considering the first generation iPhone doesn't quite have a macro lens, here's a translation of the blur:

14 people, 10 bucks each
Who can our random acts of giving reach?
A brownie for a great cause indeed
Helping out someone in need

Learn more about our Random Act of Kindness Project
and follow along at: www.traktherak.blogspot.com

The majority of the baking will take place on Tuesday at a commercial bakery that has been lent to us. Stay tuned for more brownie updates!

***If you arrived at this site following a brownie purchase, or would just like to share your thoughts on the project, please feel free to comment!!!

We thank you for your support!

Preparation....

Now you see 'em

Now you don't...

...Perhaps that's because we bought them all.

The Cause

Coming up with a cause to focus our efforts on was by no means easy. The recipient that was chosen by the team is Angela.

Angela is in her late 60's and runs her own barber shop. She has fallen on extremely tough times due to misfortune and the suffering economy.

Years ago, Angela's ex-husband abandoned her and their young daughter and never provided any financial support through the years. Angela worked long hours in her shop to support her and her daughter.

Currently, with this tough economic environment, business at the barber shop has tragically slowed, leaving Angela unable to cover all of her expenses. She is now trying to survive by living in a small closet-sized room in the back of the barber shop.

Recently, Angela's ex-husband has returned into her life, revealing that he is terminally ill, with only a few months to live. He is begging Angela and her daughter for help with his medical expenses, and Angela, consistent with her kind ways, has forgiven him and is doing what she can to help ease his suffering in his final days.

Throughout the years, despite her own financial struggles, Angela has not hesitated to share what little she had with others in need, never asking for anything in return. It is for this reason that we have chosen to support Angela and provide her with the funds we raise from the brownie sales.

The Project

First of all, what the heck does RAK even mean? Isn't that a little inappropriate? NO! In fact, RAK's are appropriate now more than ever before. That's Random Acts of Kindness, of course.

So here's the deal. A company has provided its employees with $10 Target gift cards to inspire random acts of kindness in the community. We decided to take it a little further. Trak the Rak is about seeing how far we can stretch our individual dollars to create a greater impact, while still reaching individuals in a random way.

How do you plan to do it, you ask? After an in depth brainstorming session, a group of 13 14 of us decided that there's clearly strength in numbers and $130 $140 can do a lot more to make a difference than $10 individually, -but beyond that, what if we could take our $130 $140 and grow it into far more?!

Now we're talking! So what's the plan? We have decided to pool our gift cards and purchase baking supplies at Target. Our goal is to bake 500 brownies and randomly sell them, for as much as people are willing to pay, recognizing that the funds will support a person in need.
But wait! There's more! Prior to delivering our monetary gift, we will pull out the initial investment of $10 each so that each team member has the opportunity to provide an individual RAK. -That could mean buying a homeless person a meal, paying for someone's coffee, the possibilities are endless!

You are welcome to follow us along as we track our progress, explain the cause chosen and outline our individual RAK's.

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