Bake Changes: Cookies to Pay for Girls Education!

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!! WE DID IT!! Cookie orders are now closed. We will be in touch with raffle prize winners on the 17th! :) thank you thank you thank you! More updates to come!

GIVE YOUNG GIRLS ACCESS TO SAFE AND QUALITY EDUCATION
We are Bake Changes, a team of two women, Aditi and Anissa, who are digital health experts during the week, and dessert connoisseurs on the weekend! We started this initiative to give young girls access to safe and quality education by financing their schooling through this pandemic.

We’ve partnered with a local Indian organization that Aditi met during her last trip to India, who understand the local difficulties, and already works with the community through different programs, including education workshops with people in the village at different levels.

The lack of tourism due to the pandemic has resulted in parents with reduced incomes which is impacting their ability to send their girls to school. 

There are 50 young girls in the village who only wish to stay in school.
1 year of tuition for 1 girl costs = $100 CAD (INR 5,000) 
50 girls for 1 year of tuition = $5,000 CAD

Our objective is to help the girls remain in school through the pandemic, covering their tuition during this tough time, until their parents are financially stable once again to send their daughters to school. (see more details on our cause below the cookie section.)

TWO SWEET WAYS TO HELP OUT: ♡
1. Send a Valentine’s "Smart Cookie" Gram to Someone in Toronto (or treat yo self' boo)! 
2. Donate Directly to Our Mission!

BONUS Option 3: Share on social media to give a voice to this mission :)

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FOR OPTION 1: SEND A VALENTINE’S "SMART COOKIE" GRAM - now CLOSED. 
⚠ Important Delivery Details: Order between Feb 1st - 13th 9pm, for delivery on February 14th (9 am-3 pm). We won't be able to accept deliveries after the 13th of Feb @ 9pm, but the donation page will remain active until Feb 17th  ⚠ 

Each bundle has a combination of 2 cookies: Aditi's fav Double Chocolate Chip Cookie, & super tasty Red Velvet Kisses

(last updated Feb 12th at 11:00am)
FRIEND-CHIP: $30 = 5 coooookies

SO DOUGH-PE: $50 = 10 cooooooooookie


COOKIES ’N’ DREAMS: $100 = 22 cooooooooooooooooooooookies (yes, 22o's) 



+ One delivery per cookie gram (please make separate donations for each cookie gram you want to send - apologies for the inconvenience.)

+ List of Cookie Ingredients: Flour, cocoa powder, sugar, milk, white & dark chocolate, chocolate chips, butter, eggs, brown sugar, vanilla extract, salt, baking powder, baking soda, peanut butter, marshmallows, cranberries. *may contain traces of soy and nuts.

+ We have a limited number of cookie grams! Please check the availability of your option before you donate! We will update this page as frequently as possible!

+ After you donate, we will reach out to you through gofundme with a link to fill out your delivery details.

+ This is our delivery zone, sorry we cannot deliver outside of it: WEST: 427 | North - Finch | EAST: Rouge Park



A note on payment: The gofundme platform accepts major credit cards! Also, it will ask you for a TIP that goes to the gofundme platform, this is not mandatory, you can put 0 as the tip.
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WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?

Panna’s Lifeline
Exactly this time one year ago, Aditi was in Panna, a small village whose main attraction and community revenue stream is from a nearby tiger conservation park that employs most of the villagers. My host Sushil Chikane, founder of Journeys Explore and his local team patiently guided me through 10 different safaris over a couple weeks. This park is home to incredible animals but also the rangers, guards, cleaners, patrollers, and many other hard workers who maintain the park grounds and keep the animals safe from poachers.

From March 2020 to September 2020 they have been on strict lockdown, closing their doors to all visitors. Since 2021 and their doors are slowly welcoming an almost non-existent trickle of local visitors to the park. Without the steady demand of visitors, their workforce has taken major cuts to their salaries.

Helping young girls of this village to go to school during the pandemic
The park itself receives a small government loan to help it survive through this time, but its workforce has had to make serious sacrifices due to major salary cuts. The reduced salary has resulted in the inability to send their children to school, specifically their daughters.

There are roughly 50 young girls in the village. Tuition for a year at the private school in Khajurao, a nearby town is INR 5,000, which equates to just under $100 CAD.

Our mission is to fund a year of schooling for all of the village's young girls who because of this pandemic cannot afford to attend school this year. How do we plan on raising tuition funds? By doing what we do best, baking change – delivering smart cookie grams around town this valentines day.

Supporting the Unofficial Stakeholders Affected by COVID-19
Tourism spots around the world have been massively affected by the spread of COVID-19. The United Nations World Tourism Organization estimated that global international tourist arrivals might decrease by 58% to 78% in 2020, leading to a potential loss of US$0.9–1.2 trillion in international tourism receipts.[1]  In attempts to stop the spread and contain the virus, countries have been pushed to implement strict travel restrictions on tourism attractions small and large.

Seeking new and safer revenue streams, some large attractions with the help of technology and government funding were able to adapt, offering virtual tours and merchandise.

Our cause is for the unofficial stakeholders from smaller attractions, affected by the pandemic, like Banu, our driver who told us about how he was proud to be able to send his daughter to the private school in Khajurao.

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People behind the mission

✶ Sushil Chikane from Journeys Explore
Journeys Explore cares deeply for our communities, we work with many local communities across India.

We envision journeys that become life experiences for our guests, one’s that are unique and creative. We create inimitable journeys tailored for the traveller, wanderer, drifter, explorer, dreamer, adventurer. We are driven by passion, love and a desire to explore the road less taken. We believe in being sustainable, fun, ethical and flexible.

Travel needs to enrich, transform and inspire. The traveller needs to evolve, experience and make memories that last a lifetime. Journeys as a company continuously aspire to create life experiences for people across the world. We aim to invoke passion and love for travel. We stress on the educational and inspirational value of every journey.

We have a company that is driven by people who have spent their entire lives travelling and experiencing nature. Our experts travel with the guests, always accompany the camps and personally tailor every itinerary. There is a backup team of volunteers and instructors who ensure that quality is never compromised and every guest gets the best of what is on offer. We love children and have an entire segment dedicated to camps and treks specially created for kids. We prefer to focus on the educational and experiential quotient of all our journeys and a travel expert simply ensures that this is never lost or overlooked.

✶ Your Bake Changers:  Anissa & Aditi - Friend-chip INC! 

Follow our mission on IG: @bakechangesto
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Source
1. "International Tourist Numbers Could Fall 60-80% in 2020". www.unwto.org. Retrieved 16 September 2020.