Girl’s bake sale to support Birch Bay library

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A young girl who loves reading books is holding a bake sale to raise money for a new library in Birch Bay.

This year, Bailey Black, 10, has been riding her bike to the Whatcom County Library System’s (WCLS) bookmobile every Wednesday, when the bookmobile makes its weekly stop in Birch Bay from 3 to 7 p.m. “At the bookmobile, she heard that they were raising money for the new Birch Bay library,” said Lisa Black, Bailey’s mother. “She wanted to do a fundraiser and came up with the idea to do a bake sale.”

Bailey and her family, who live in Birch Bay’s Sea Links community, usually organize a charity drive around the holidays. For the past six years, they have conducted a local toy drive benefitting the Bellingham foster care charity Skookum Kids. Bailey and her three younger brothers would set up a table, sell hot chocolate and collect toy and cash donations from neighbors. “The neighbors were always so supportive,” said Bailey’s mother.

This year, Bailey decided to support the Birch Bay library project. After Bailey shared the idea with friends and neighbors, “it just kind of took on a life of its own,” said her mother. Bailey is now partnering with Friends of Birch Bay Library (FOBBL) and several local businesses to put on the bake sale featuring cookies, cupcakes, cakes, muffins, pies, hot chocolate and other treats, including gluten-free options.

Bailey’s Holiday Bake Sale will take place on Saturday, December 14 from 1 to 4 p.m. indoors at 7968 Birch Bay Drive, the site of the future Birch Bay Vogt Community Library. The event will also feature a book sale by FOBBL volunteers. All proceeds will go directly to FOBBL, which is seeking to meet a July 2021 deadline to fully fund the library project with WCLS.

“The money raised will go towards our building fund,” said FOBBL board president Dianne Marrs-Smith, who praised Bailey’s enthusiasm. “It’s going to become an annual event. We plan to do this holiday book sale every year as a fundraiser.”

One of the participating local businesses is The Market in Birch Bay Square. “Bailey just went into The Market and asked for the store manager, who kindly agreed to donate baked goods,” said her mother. Another donor is The C Shop, whose owner happened to be at the bookmobile during one of Bailey’s visits and gladly agreed to participate.

The owner of Calypso Kitchen is a neighbor and will be donating a special Caribbean Christmas drink for the event. Meanwhile, a fellow church member is opening the forthcoming Scottzer’s Scratch Bakery in downtown Blaine and will be donating homemade cookies.

In preparation for the bake sale, Bailey will be going door to door to hand out flyers and ask neighbors to bring donations. She’ll also come up with a price list and go shopping for baked goods the day before the big event. “Bailey’s just so wonderful,” said Marrs-Smith.

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