Community Cookbooks Support Community Needs

Since the beginning, Junior Leagues have been an integral part of communities.  First formed in 1901, Mary Harriman, a 19-year-old New York City debutante with a social conscience, formed the Junior League for the Promotion of Settlement Movements.  Harriman mobilized a group of 80 other young women, hence the name "Junior" League, to work to improve child health, nutrition and literacy among immigrants living on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.  Since then, Junior Leagues began forming across the nation to serve the needs of their communities through the leadership and volunteerism of women.  To date, more than 255 Junior Leagues are serving communities in the US and abroad.  Where there is need, Junior Leagues are there. 

With the recent news of the oil spill impacting so many communities along the Gulf Coast, there is no doubt we'll see Junior Leagues once again rise to the call for “help”.

In fact, in an email exchange this week with Michelle  Ferreira, President of The Junior League of the Emerald Coast in Destin, she said. “I love the idea of donating some of our profits to assist the community clean up of the oil coming ashore”. While this will require a membership vote I have no doubt that this League along with many others such as Tampa, Sarasota, Panama City and others will be doing the same thing.

You see, these books are about and for the community.  Editorially, they capture the personality and lifestyle of a community through content. They involve businesses in raising support for the development of the books and in selling the books as well—partnerships are formed and the community benefits from all of the profits of book sales.

The oil spill in The Gulf is simply one example of a community need. However, there are countless needs in every community in the US that organizations like the Junior League step up to meet.  Yesterday, I wrote about the gas utility in Pensacola (ESP) publishing a community cookbook to support those citizens in need who couldn’t pay their utility bill. The spirit of volunteerism and working together in community remains unique to the USA and is alive and strong.

We certainly witnessed this spirit in Nashville immediately following the devastating flood that hit our area. You didn’t read of rioting and looting.  Instead, you did hear about neighbors helping neighbors and strangers helping strangers in need.  This humanitarian spirit is is exemplified in the many community cookbooks that are out there.  Here are a few from the Gulf Coast region.

 Bay Fetes - Junior Service League of Panama City, FL

  Beyond the Bay - Junior Service League of Panama City, FL

 Bay Leaves - Junior Service League of Panama City, FL

 By Invitation Only - Junior League of Pensacola, FL

 Bay Tables - Junior League of Mobile, AL

Cause-Related Marketing

A great testimony to successful cause-related marketing comes to us from a retail chain, Calico Corners. Here's what Jan Jessup, Director of Communications, has to say about their unique fund raising and marketing campaign.

"Since Calico Cooks! was first published in 1999, Calico Corners has donated more than $240,000 from cookbook sales to Susan G. Komen for the Cure to fund breast cancer research. The previous year, one of our store managers, Jill Sewell, died at age 46 of breast cancer. When Jill's cancer was first diagnosed, she was in the midst of buying her first house. Not knowing what the future would bring, she wondered if she should go through with the purchase. Jill shared those worries with a counselor at the Susan G. Komen organization in Dallas, Texas. The counselor responded with two pointed questions. "Well, Jill, are you planning to live? Or are you planning to die?"

"Jill immediately decided to buy the house. She loved being there, even though it was only for a year or so. After Jill's death, all of us wanted to do something meaningful in her memory, and we decided to publish a cookbook to raise money for breast cancer research. This cause is close to many of us at Calico Corners and ALL of the profits from the sale of this cookbook are donated to continued research."

"When we made the decision to publish a cookbook, we knew that it had to be as professional as our sales associates and as beautiful as our fabrics. We found an excellent partner in FRP, who shared our vision for what this cookbook could be. We held a "Call for Recipes" and employees contributed more than 500 favorites. The best 200 were published in the cookbook. And although the recipes were not professionally kitchen-tested at FRP, the knowledgeable food editors did review and rewrite them as needed, for consistency and quality. They clarified instructions and checked for missing ingredients (the leavening agent?). We thought the book should reflect our expertise in home decorating, so there are dozens of design tips sprinkled throughout, wherever there was sufficient white space on the page. We included color photos from our catalog as the chapter openers. Calico Cooks is a great buy for just $15. This cookbook is in its Fifth Printing and has sold more than 40,000 copies. Our employees are proud of it and sell it enthusiastically, as their favorite recipes are found there!"

Jan Jessup / CalicoCorners / 203 Gale Lane, Kennett Square, PA 19348 / (610) 444-9700, ext. 262(610) 444-1221 fax mailto:jjessup@calicocorners.com

Do you know of a worthy non-profit that you could partner with to raise money and build your brand?

---