There is a beauty to staying in your lane, as Tucson Medical Center El Tour de Tucson riders will invariably discover on Saturday.
Not only when cycling, but when running a chartable organization.
As El Tour riders cross the finish line and begin their cool-down process, theyโll have a pick of several cookies, because Renรฉ Luedeman has not bitten off more than she can chew.
Her Cakes for Causes organization, a 501c3 charity, will provide treats at the end of El Tour for the fifth straight year.
โI tell everybody: If thereโs one event to attend, go work an El Tour booth,โ Luedeman said. โIt is so hard to describe the atmosphere there, it is just so uplifting. One of our volunteers, sheโs kind of had a rough life, doesnโt have a real good outlook. First year, she was kinda shy, but she just said, โIโm so glad you pushed me into this.โ
โShe says it always restores my faith in humanity.โ
Luedemanโs faith needed a lift after U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in 2011, and Luedeman was compelled to grow her Icing on the Cake club. A former research scientist at UA, Luedeman began baking 25 years ago as a creative outlet; she now works in the culinary department at Pima Community College, teaching baking classes.
Luedeman pitched the idea to her husband Terrill, an IT specialist who helped her set up a Web site and the 501c3 application.
โHeโs like Ricky Ricardo: โLucy, what are you thinking? But if thatโs your passion and you want to do it, Iโm with it,โ she said.
Their first act was baking 500 cookies for Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, and in addition to providing baked goods to groups throughout the city, the nonprofit also works with the Make-a-Wish Foundation to provide cakes for sick children.
Working on an operating annual budget of about $7,000, Cakes for Causes will deliver roughly 20,000 โsugar hugs,โ as Luedeman calls them, throughout the year.
โThe parents run up and say, โMy child has had a feeding tube his whole life; this is the first time heโll have a cake,โโ Luedeman said.
โThatโs my why. When we start getting frustrated, I say, โgo to your why.โโ
So thatโs the what and the why, and here is the how, because it takes a lot to go into 20,000 baked goods for the year:
- About 10,000 eggs
- 4,000 cups of sugar
- 8,000 cups of four
- 4,000 teaspoons of vanilla
- 4,000 teaspoons of baking soda
- 6,000 cups of chocolate chips
- 4,000 cups of butter
โAnd I know the recipe, because I just got done baking!โ Luedeman said with a laugh.
Sheโs still plugging along, inching her team forward, bite by bite.
Like everyone with a grand plan, sheโs realized the realities of the cause and readily admits, โIโve had to change my vision, too; I thought, โWow, weโd grow and take over the world.โโ
Volunteer bakers are always ready to turn on the oven, but the cost of goods has increased. Egg prices have gone up, Luedeman said, before adding, โEvery time I get eggs on sale Iโm like Gollum. My Precious!โ
But the group is really cooking now โ or baking, as it were โ and thatโs what matters.
โWe look back and go, โWow! We did it without any help,โโ she said. โNo seed money, we have a small budget. We pay for ingredients and insurance. The cookie jar is just a cookie jar.
โWe always say we hope we find our sugar daddy.โ
