Montreal bakers putting on a bake sale for children in Gaza
A group of Montreal bakers is getting together to put on a bake sale to raise money for children in Gaza.
"I have a three-year-old myself, and I couldn't help but picture him in those situations, and I just felt very helpless," said organizer Tamara Leisser. "I just felt like I needed to do something to be of use in some small way."
The bake sale is set for Saturday afternoon at the Moving Just Fine Pilates studio in Saint-Henri.
Anyone wanting to attend must register at the event's GoFundMe page.
"When you donate, leave a comment saying that you will attend," Leisser explains.
The bakers are asking for a minimum donation of $55 to fill up a box with local goodies.
All the proceeds will go to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF), which provides free medical and humanitarian aid to children in the Middle East.
The organization is a registered nonprofit organization founded in 1991.
"I want people to, even if they can't attend, please donate," Leisser tells CTV News. "It's not going through me at all. It goes directly to them [the PCRF]. So, even if you can't attend, even if you don't live in Montreal, just donate and it will hopefully do some good."
Though Leisser admits that it's difficult to keep politics away from such a sensitive issue, her hope is to keep the bake sale apolitical.
"We want to help children who are suffering," she said pointedly. "We do have some bakers who are contributing but who didn't want their bakeries mentioned, and I totally understand that."
Leisser adds with Mother's Day around the corner, the fundraiser is also a way for people to pick up a few sweet treats for their families.
"A lot of this has to do with the fact that I am a mother," she explains. "I don't think you need to be a mother to be able to sympathize with what's going on in Gaza, but people will be buying treats anyway to celebrate their mothers."
Leisser says that so far, more than 90 boxes have been reserved.
Any desserts left over at the end of the bake sale will be donated to Chez Doris.
"There are people who are donating who will not be picking up their boxes and want them to go directly to Chez Doris," she said. "Hopefully, it will be fun. It's a tragic thing that's going on, but we're hoping that this bake sale will not feel too tragic."
The bake sale is slated for Saturday, May 11, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Moving Just Fine Pilates studio (642 de Courcelle St., unit 305.)
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Guilty: Trump becomes first former U.S. president convicted of felony crimes
Donald Trump became the first former American president to be convicted of felony crimes Thursday as a New York jury found him guilty of all 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex.
Can Trump come to Canada now that he's a convicted felon?
A Canadian immigration lawyer says now that Donald Trump is a convicted felon, he is technically barred from crossing the border into Canada.
Montreal tech billionaire charged with several sex offences
Robert Miller was charged Thursday with several sexual assault charges after Montreal police reopened an investigation into the tech billionaire.
Police: 3 killed, including suspected gunman, in Minneapolis shooting
Three people, including the suspected gunman, are dead after a shooting Thursday at a Minneapolis apartment complex, police said.
'Why didn't they stop?' Mom asks of driver in hit-and-run crash that killed son
The mother of a 13-year-old boy who was killed in a hit-and-run in Edmonton is begging the driver to come forward.
The northern lights are returning to night skies across Canada this Friday
If you missed the brilliant displays of the aurora borealis over North America on May 10, you may have another chance to see them on Friday night.
A pair enjoyed pricey meals and bolted when it was time to pay. Their dine and dash ended in jail
A Welsh couple who dined out on pricey meals and bolted when the bill came is now paying the price, behind bars.
$400K in damages for B.C. woman who had unnecessary mastectomy was 'inordinately high,' court finds
A jury's award of $400,000 to a woman who had a mastectomy after being misdiagnosed with breast cancer has been substantially reduced by B.C.'s highest court, which found the damages were "wholly disproportionate."