Sisters Vivian and Margot Louthan turned their love of animals into a neighborhood fund-raiser that enabled them to buy food and provisions for homeless animals at the Fairfax County Animal Shelter. Both are elementary school students at Churchill Road who decided to put their baking skills to good use by raising money with a roadside stand.
“We thought it was a good idea. We like to bake a lot,” said 9-year-old Vivian, a third-grader. “We love dogs. We even have one. We thought it was better to bake for a good cause than to just bake.”
Sixth-grader Margot said, “We wanted to do something to raise money for a good cause. We thought of animals because we have animals.”
Fairfax County Police Capt. Pamela Minnich, who runs the Animal Shelter for the county, said the shelter is very appreciative of the girls’ efforts. “It’s great. That really works well for us. When people do this, it really helps us out,” said Minnich. “What we do with donations like that is, we put them up front for people who have just gotten a pet to take,” said Minnich.
The girls purchased pet food and toys with the funds raised from their bake sale.
The girls’ mother, Paige Louthan, said the bake sale was more than just an opportunity to raise money for a good cause. It gave the pair a chance to hone their mathematical and marketing skills. “This is teaching them how to be a good philanthropist for the future. As they become adults, it’s not just me, me,” said Paige Louthan.
ACCORDING TO VIVIAN, their venture started by making lists of what they wanted to sell and the ingredients they’d need from the grocery store to make the goodies. “First we wrote on a piece of paper what we would bake. Then we went to the supermarket and got the stuff,” said Vivian. “Then we baked all the things and made prices for them.”
In total the girls created five cakes, three breads, 19 cupcakes, three pans of brownies and several dozen cookies. “Our carrot cake was the best. It was bought two minutes after mom brought it out,” said Margot.
Vivian and Margot raised $214.60 at their doggie fund-raiser. They also collected old blankets and towels from their neighbors to give to the shelter. “We had a lot of fun going to PetCo and buying toys. They gave us a 20-percent discount,” said Margot.
“It took them a week to do this because they had to plan out the supplies they needed, and they printed up fliers to distribute in the neighborhood,” said Paige Louthan. “It took a lot of organization on their part.”