Teaching Compassion at a Vegan Bake Sale

Today our family participated in a vegan bake sale to benefit victims in Haiti. My husband and I have been busy the past couple of nights making vegan truffles (above), peanut and pecan brittle, and white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies. They were all a big hit! All in all our efforts raised money for a good cause.

We wanted to be sure to include it as a lesson to the little ones about helping to make a difference in the world. If there is one thing a toddler can understand, it is making/purchasing goodies to raise money for a charitable organization. What kid doesn't love vegan cookies, chocolates, muffins, cupcakes, and brownies?

Our eldest is still a wee three year old, so I tried to keep the explanation simple. It needed to be summarized in three year old speak, which isn't always easy when the subject matter involves the devastation caused by a massive earthquake. We explained people's homes fell down and they needed help to rebuild them. The animals in Haiti needed help as well. When I compared it to help for our animals if they were lost, that really hit home for him.

This is one of the many ways we plan to teach compassion to our children, through the importance of donations and particating in charitable fundraisers. They will learn more about it next month too at the Kiddie Karnival at their school. We'll be donating to the silent auction and have Elliott help pick out what we buy. It is part of the vegan values we hope to instill in our children.