Charity Cookbook Sale Set for November 1, 2008

It is time for The 2nd Annual Secret Ingredient Charity Cookbook Sale!

Back in the spring of 2007, I decided The Secret Ingredient Cooking School should hold a charity event. Being that I do not have a staff or army of volunteers, the charity balls, concerts, and auctions were out of the question. But then, while attending a lecture, I had a brainstorm. I'd collect used cookbooks from around town, hold a sale, and give the money to charity. Simple enough, right? Well, I was overwhelmed by the generosity of people in my area, and collected nearly 500 cookbooks. It was a lot of hard work, collecting, organizing, categorizing, and pricing the books, but it was all worth every minute. The sale was a big success, and I was able to give almost $1000 to a local charity supporting programs for kids with autism in the public schools.

This year, the donations were a little on the low side, so I cancelled the sale, which was originally scheduled for September. Then the phone calls came pouring in. People wanted to know when it was rescheduled. They wanted to know if I was still collecting books, and then started dropping off boxes and bags of books. One woman called to tell me how much she'd been looking forward to the sale. She went on to say that at the event last year she was able to replace several cookbooks in her collection of nearly 500 which had been lost. At that point I decided it was worth soldiering on and set a new date.

For this year's sale, I'm doing things a little differently. Instead of having a set price for each book, attendees pick out the cookbooks they would like, and then simply make a donation. Considering the state of our economy in these last months, people can contribute whatever they are able and still take home some great cookbooks. Give whatever seems like a fair amount based on the books you choose! My goal is to find each and every cookbook a new home, all while raising money for The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation, which supports breast cancer research.

So, come one, come all, in the name of cooking, in the name of fighting breast cancer, and in the name of finally giving my husband his garage back!

For more information about the sale, or to donate books, go to http://www.thesecretingredientonline.com/.