It’s a bake sale sans the baked goods. No calories to worry about. No one gets to feel guilty about becoming an enabler to someone who is counting calories for health reasons.
And the only thing that gets full is the coffers of HOPE Ministries, the umbrella organization running two homeless facilities in Manteca – HOPE Family Shelter on West Yosemite Avenue, and Raymus House on South Union Road. Full, in a fiscal sense.
With the need for financial contributions growing to keep the two homeless shelters open for those in need of emergency housing assistance, the board of directors of HOPE Ministries came up with the idea of a Bakeless Holiday Bake Sale fund-raiser. Hopefully, proceeds generated from this unusual fund-raising strategy “will help supply some of our financial needs that would be greatly appreciated at this time of year without requiring extra work on your part,” the letter sent out to prospective donors reads in part.
Included in the letter is the poem that explains how the fund-raising effort works. HOPE Ministries board member Linda Kay said the last time she used the poem for this purpose was in 1994 for Sober Grad Night at East Union High School. Someone on their fund-raising committee reportedly obtained this poem from Mrs. Gallo – Kay could not ascertain whether the Mrs. Gallo was the wife of the late Ernest Gallo of Gallo Winery in Modesto or his late brother Julio.
But the HOPE Ministries board members are hoping their effort will spell sweet success and that the novelty of a Bakeless Bake Sale will work its charm one more time.
Here’s the Gallo poem that explains how this fund-raiser works:
A Bakeless Holiday Bake Sale
A bit of news we have this holiday,
A Bakeless Bake Sale is under way.
During this busy time, who wants to bake
Pies or cookies or even a cake?
And, you’d be surprised if you counted the cost
Of materials, heat and the time you lost.
So we’ve thought of a plan that is really grand
And feel quite sure you will understand.
In the enclosed envelope please put the price
Of a pie or a cake or something nice.
Without fuss or bother, you’ve done your part
And we hope you give with a willing heart.
This is the end of our little tale
Wishing success for our Bakeless Holiday Bake Sale!
If you did not receive the solicitation letter from HOPE Ministries but would like to be part of this fund-raising effort, you can send your tax-deductible donation to: HOPE Ministries, Inc., P.O. Box 841, Manteca, CA 95336. The non-profit organization’s tax ID Number is 68-0235846.
HOPE Ministries has been serving homeless families in Manteca since 1993. It provides the service in two facilities. The first one is the HOPE Shelter, located in the refurbished building that was once Manteca’s first hospital, on West Yosemite Avenue just across the street from the Manteca Historical Museum. It provides emergency temporary home to families. The second facility is the Raymus House on South Union Road. It was formerly a care home. The late Manteca developer and philanthropist Antone Raymus bought the building for $400,000 which he then offered to HOPE Ministries for an annual rental fee of $1. That arrangement kept Raymus House for a number of years until early this year when Raymus Foundation deeded the property to the HOPE Ministries.
Bakeless bake sale helping with homeless shelter costs

