Gourmandise hosts baking class for Haitian relief

 Clemence Gossett of Gourmandise Desserts will be hosting a cupcake baking class to benefit the Heartline Ministries orphanage in Haiti.

Gossett's close friends Tim and Jen Pearson adopted two boys from the Heartline's Maranatha Orphanage, but had not been able to bring the children home because of processing delays. In the interim, they traveled to Port-au-Prince a few times per month, where they were working at the time of the earthquake.

"The Pearsons had worked to make the orphanage as self-sustaining as possible throughout the past few years. They had a rainwater collection system and an edible garden. It sounded like a really special place," Gossett says. Gossett met Tim Pearson while attending McLean High School in Virginia, where they worked together as peer counselors.

The Pearsons' blog has been the American family's communication with those back home in the U.S.; it reports that the children are safe, but that the building has sustained major damage. They are currently sleeping in the yard and are working on securing food and water for the children.

The Gourmandise class will take place Jan. 26 from 6 to 9 p.m. and costs $65 per person.

-- Krista Simmons

Comments

[kara frans]

Congratulations on raising so much well-needed money for Haiti. We are looking forward to your next class!

[Clemence Gossett]

Thank you to everyone who came to bake and so generously donated! $1,500 was raised in three sweet hours, thanks in part to some delicious raffle donations from Platine Cookies, Amandacooks.com, Surfas and CulinaryDistrict.com. Check back soon as we will be hosting another Haiti Relief Benefit at the end of the month.

[kristasimmons]

Glad you liked Natalie. I did a roundup of other local food businesses doing Haiti charity events, so check back for that. Thanks for reading....

[Natalie]

This is VERY cool. What a creative way to give. Thanks for the blog info. I want to read more.