A batch a day: Good Bitches Baking
Baking is a mechanism in spreading kindness – and one Canterbury charity celebrating their 10th birthday has delivered more than 20,000 batches of made-with-love treats to communities in need.
“The purpose of Good Bitches Baking is to bring a slice of sweetness into someone’s day who is having a difficulty,” Sally Clarke says. She’s the Head Bitch for the Christchurch chapter, managing 293 volunteer bakers and 72 recipient organisations. This is kindness in its sweetest form, and Sally’s crew is the second nationwide to reach a monumental 20,000 boxes of baking donated to people having a tough time.
Working with a wealth of generous Cantabrians, Sally says many sign on as volunteers through word-of-mouth or after receiving a box themselves. The process is simple, reuniting people with the nostalgic feel of homemade baking. Just once a month, bakers whip up treats of their choosing, with their own ingredients in their own home, and can deliver to an area and on a day that suits them. An overflowing neonatal unit is the receiver of one box per day.
“Among the surreality of the situation, finding a box of delicious biscuits on the bench was a very welcome respite from reality.” – a note from Christchurch ICU.
The charity arose in 2014 when two women wanted to make a difference – baking was an ideal avenue to do so. Sally came across the initiative and the Christchurch chapter began soon after. To qualify for boxes of treats (made-with-love), recipients must have clients enduring some kind of difficulty. Christchurch sends over 300 boxes city-wide each month, with demand growing from both recipient organisations and keen volunteers. “I was very naïve when I started because I didn’t realise it was going to get so big.”
Part-time and unpaid, Sally says it’s the “perfect charity” for her, and many of her volunteer bakers too. With initiatives including Prison Bake and Business Bitching, and supportive sponsors including Harcourts Holmwood, Good Bitches Baking’s Christchurch chapter continues to bake up a big difference.
Find out more about the Christchurch, Timaru and Ōamaru chapters at gbb.org.nz
