AVON —  A group of Avon teens is rolling out the dough to raise money for hungry children across the country.
Shannon Young, 16, and her  friends, Sarah Porter, Amy Durisek, Kayla Thompson and Melissa Schwartz hope to raise $1,000 Saturday by selling baked goods to help end childhood hunger in the U.S.

The idea came to Shannon while she was watching one of her favorite television stations — the Food Network.

JASON MILLER / CHRONICLE

From left, Shannon Young, Amy Durisek and Sarah Porter, all of Avon, will be holding a bake sale at the Avon Senior Center on Saturday to raise money for the “Great American Bake Sale.”

“I wouldn’t say I’m a Food Network junkie,” she said. “But I saw something about the Great American Bake Sale and thought baking for a charity would be neat.”

The Great American Bake Sale is a national campaign set up by the nonprofit organization Share Our Strength to mobilize people of all ages to hold bake sales in their communities and donate the money raised.

All proceeds go to fund feeding programs, as well as nutrition education programs for low-income families.
Shannon told her friends about the idea, and they all wanted to throw their eggs in the basket.

“We know Shannon likes to bake, and it’ll be fun doing something for somebody else,” Sarah Porter said.
Sarah said each of the girls was inspired by learning more about childhood hunger through the organization’s Web site at http://gabs.strength.org.

The young team of bakers even organized an effort to ask for donations from local grocers while cooking up up some of their favorite recipes.

Although they’ll be including the basics, such as brownies and chocolate chip cookies, the girls plan on whipping up some of their personal favorites, including chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and classic Italian pizzelles.

Shannon’s mother, Ellen Root, said she was pleasantly surprised to find out her daughter and her friends had summer interests outside of the local mall.

“It’s gratifying to see them put something like this together all on their own,” Root said. “I’m just glad (they’re) doing something else other than shopping.”

The girls are seeking local baked food donations to help in their efforts. Anyone interested should contact Ellen Root at (440) 937-7821.

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