Community Corner
Priceless Scene at Kayla's Bake Sale
Two middle school students choose 7-year-old Kayla Dehnert, who is battling cancer, as the recipient for their annual fundraiser. More than $1,100 was raised.
The tables at the bake sale are set, adorned with Christmas-themed tablecloths, covered with every kind of dessert imaginable, not to mention homegrown holly sprigs and a brother and sister are arguing over who gets the cupcake with the present decal on top.
“Mom, can I have the present one?” the young boy asks. That is when one of the bake sale hostesses, Rachael Barnett, comes to the rescue with an extra cupcake, complete with green frosting and a present-shaped piece of candy.
Kids have shown up in droves on a Friday afternoon, some on bicycles with helmets, and many still toting their backpacks. They’ve stopped at a house on Sutro Avenue to support a 7-year-old Novato girl, , who is undergoing treatment for a cancerous brain tumor.
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Rachael and her friend Victoria Malatesta seem to have things under control. The 13-year-old students do have experience at all this. They’ve been holding a charity bake sale for the past six years. It began as an effort to help a fellow classmate, Angel Magana, during a family tragedy. Since then, the girls have donated to Marin-based Hospice of the Bay and a foundation that fights Lou Gehrig’s disease, or ALS. The latter is of special import to the girls because Victoria’s grandmother suffers from the disease.
“We just wanted to help out the community” Rachael says.
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Best friends and schoolmates since kindergarten, Rachael and Victoria are now helping out another inseparable duo. Claire Choi is just as close to Kayla Dehnert, who is in a Tennessee hospital for the foreseeable future as she undergoes radiation therapy and chemotherapy with her parents by her side.
Claire stands beside Rachael and Victoria as they run the event. All three wear Santa hats. The girls say the get-ups are a bit itchy, but keep them on as part of the show.
Victoria is the baker of the lot. “Well, my dad always cooked and baked with me, and I loved it so I just kept baking,” she says. In fact, her father works for the Bay Brokerage Company, which donated some irresistible-looking peppermint cheesecake.
What is officially called the Hot Cocoa and Holly Sale looks to be a success. The location certainly doesn’t hurt. Pleasant Valley Elementary School is across the street from Rachael’s Sutro Avenue home (Victoria lives around the corner), and kids flood the stand just as school gets out. They are easily tempted by the hot chocolate and apple cider station, complete with cinnamon sticks and marshmallows.
She and Victoria are all smiles as Mike Christian, a local soccer coach, donates $200 and takes away a box of sweets. “I don’t want to clean you guys out,” he says with a laugh.
According to Rachael’s calculations, the team raised about $400 the previous year. When asked if they’ll top that number, she says, “I think we might, actually.”
In fact, after an initial count Friday evening, it was more than $1,100.
Regardless of the total, Rachael and Victoria will celebrate a job well done.
“It makes you feel good,” Rachael says of the annual good-cause fundraisers.
And while this may be their last year as classmates — the girls face the possibility of attending different high schools — they are optimistic about carrying on the bake sale tradition.
“Probably every year so long as we can fit it in with school,” Victoria says.
(Editor's note: Alexis Sattler of Novato is a student at UC Santa Barbara on her holiday break. Novato Patch thanks her for volunteering to contribute!)
