How This Mom Is Fighting Childhood Cancer, One Cookie at a Time
Treats prepared for a Cookies for Kids’ Cancer bake sale. Photo: Cookies for Kids’ Cancer/Facebook
"One hundred down, 800 more to pack," legendary cookbook author Dorie Greenspan tweeted earlier this week. Accompanying the post was a link to an image showing a table overflowing with stacks of “Oatmeal Peanutter” cookies. When a few Instagram followers expressed incredulity—prepping a nearly thousand-cookie order is quite an undertaking—Greenspan responded, “You’re right that packing cookies takes forever, but the cause is so good.”
That cause is Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a nonprofit that organizes bake sales across the country and donates every cent directly to pediatric cancer research. On Thursday, the group will host its second annual Chefs for Kids’ Cancer dinner in New York City, for which Greenspan and 47 other marquee-worthy food figures are donating their time, talents, and skills: There will be a multi-course savory feast in addition to a bevy of cookies from superstar pastry chefs.
For the nonprofit’s founder, Gretchen Holt Witt, it’s a mission that springs from the ashes of personal tragedy.
Cookies for Kids’ Cancer founder Gretchen Holt Witt with her son, Liam. Photo: GoodCookiesMom/Twitter
"Liam’s thing was always cooking," said Witt, her voice brightening at the memory of her late son, who passed away in 2011, at age 6, after a four-year battle with cancer. Among his most prized possessions was a chef’s hat, often perched atop his mop of light brown hair. And he adored his chef’s aprons, and would often have a favorite silicon spatula peeking out from the front pocket. These accoutrements came in handy when he experimented with recipes in the Witt family kitchen or whipped up a simple meal of tacos for his parents and younger sister.
"I think that if you talked to almost any chef, they’d say that cooking was a calling that started when they were kids," Witt said. "Liam definitely had that calling."
As her family navigated Liam’s wrenching treatments, Witt was shocked to learn a gut-wrenching fact: Pediatric cancer is the most common disease to kill children in the United States. Even more shocking, Witt said, is that “it’s one of the least funded. It seemed to me that something should be done about that.”
Stacks of Dorie Greenspan’s cookies, prepared for the Chefs for Kids’ Cancer dinner. Photo: doriegreenspan/Instagram
It began in 2007 with a simple bake sale—albeit one executed on a grand scale. Witt, who works as public relations director for kitchen tools brand OXO, booked a commercial kitchen and enlisted 250 volunteers. Together, they baked more then 100,000 cookies over the course of 18 days, with all proceeds going directly to pediatric cancer research. A year later, Witt founded Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, which helps people organize similar bake sales, cookie swaps, another other fundraising events across the country.
Given Witt’s organizing power, it’s easy to understand why so many have proffered their services to the Chefs for Kids’ Cancer dinner, which is expected to be no small feat. Each of the 31 “savory” chefs will prepare a different, multi-course meal for an entire table, and the 14 pastry chefs will churn out more than 800 cookies.
Cookie jars, ready to go for Thursday’s event. Photo: momomilkbar/Instagram
In the gala’s kitchen, the three “chef chairs” will include Christina Tosi, the co-founder of the cult favorite Momofuku Milk Bar bakeries; Jonathan Benno, the Per Se alum who currently helms Lincoln Ristorante; and Dan Kluger, the lauded chef formerly of ABC Kitchen whose top-secret new restaurant will open sometime this year. Other high-wattage chefs on the lineup include Marc Forgione, Alex Guarnaschelli, Michael Anthony, Andrew Carmellini, and Ivan Orkin. Even one supermodel—Karlie Kloss—is cooking up a batch of cookies. (With such a roster, it’s no wonder the event has sold out.)
"I know it sounds cheesy, but people are doing this because love and they care," Witt said. "Almost everything at this event has been donated, from the gorgeous glass cookie jars to every drop of wine. I think that when your heart is in the right place, things happen that wouldn’t necessarily happen otherwise."
Cookbook authors Alan Richardson and Karen Tack prepare “cupcake” cookies for Thursday’s dinner. Photo: whatsnewcupcake/Twitter
As proof, Witt offered an anecdote about mohawk-coiffed chef Marc Forgione, who Liam adored for the punk rock swagger he exhibited on shows such as Iron Chef.
"He had this instant attraction to Marc, but I never reached out to him while Liam was alive," Witt said. "I was so afraid that Marc would say ‘no.’ I mean, it’s scary to meet a kid with cancer. When he accepted [our invitation to cook for this dinner]—he was one of the first—that’s when I told him the story."
Forgione was shocked and saddened by the tale, she said. Today, a picture of Liam hangs in the kitchen of his Tribeca restaurant.
"I really do believe, in a way, that I’m the luckiest mom on the face of the earth, because at least I had the chance to love my son and be loved by him for six years and nine months," Witt said. Liam’s life has inspired so much, she added, not the least being the more than $400,000 Cookies for Kids’ Cancer has raised for pediatric cancer research.
"At the end of the day, we want to know that our lives had meaning," she said. "We’re here to be a part of the greater good, and not just [be] bobbing through life. I can’t imagine what it’s like to live life and not have a passion for something."
More inspiring stories from the food world:
How you’re saving the world by eating Ben & Jerry’s
15 ways to eat more sustainably in 2015
Growing Warriors, an organization that turns veterans into farmers
