Leading housewares brands OXO, Bormioli Rocco and Breville joined forces with more than 40 of New York’s top chefs and celebrities to raise $900,000 for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer.
The nonprofit organization – committed to finding a cure for pediatric cancer, the No. 1 killer of children in the U.S. – held its first ever Chefs for Kids’ Cancer benefit gala at The Altman Building in New York last week. Celebrities Paul Rudd, Karlie Kloss and the Barenaked Ladies joined the housewares companies to raise funds. OXO has been involved with Cookies for Kids’ Cancer since the beginning, when co-founders Gretchen and Larry Witt, two OXO employees, were inspired to give back by their son Liam’s battle with pediatric cancer.
Over the past eight years, OXO has helped raise more than $1 million through its “OXO Good Cookies” campaign. During the Chefs for Kids’ Cancer gala, OXO harnessed the power of social media to raise awareness for the cause. For each use of the hashtag #Chefs4Kids, the company pledged $1 to the foundation, up to $5,000. OXO also provided each of the 28 savory chefs and 15 pastry chefs with tools to aid in the preparation of the gala’s multi-course meal. Each guest also left the gala with an OXO “Good Cookie” Spatula.
This marks Bormioli Rocco’s second year as an official corporate sponsor of Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, where the company doubled its pledge to $50,000. In the month of February, the company matched all funds raised by the nonprofit up to $25,000, which included donations from the Chefs for Kids’ Cancer Gala. Each gala guest received a Bormioli Rocco Fido Jar embossed with the Chefs for Kids’ Cancer logo that was filled with cookies from Momofuku Milk Bar.
For two-and-a-half years, Breville has helped raise funds for the organization through the donation of stand mixers to the top bake sale hosts, affectionately known as Breville’s Best.
Additional sponsors of Chefs for Kids’ Cancer included Bank of America, a “Platinum Pizzelle” donor and ongoing sponsor of Cookies for Kids’ Cancer; All-Clad, which donated cookware for the savory chefs to cook with during dinner service; and Samsung, which donated cooking surfaces for the chefs to use.
Cookies for Kids’ Cancer began in 2007 when Gretchen and Larry Witt, former OXO employees, baked 96,000 cookies to help raise money for a promising pediatric cancer treatment. Their son, Liam Witt’s journey with cancer began on Feb. 25, 2007, seven years to the day before the Chefs for Kids’ Cancer gala. But Cookies for Kids’ Cancer is not about one child or one type of pediatric cancer. It is about changing the facts of pediatric cancer for the better, forever. To date, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer has raised more than $8 million, funding nearly four dozen research projects, including seven that are now treatments available for children today.
