By Olivia Janis
On March 21st Andrew Flint and other members of the Once Upon a Room Club participated in a bake sale to raise money for the organization.
Once Upon a Room sends volunteers to decorate local hospital rooms in order to cheer up the patients. The Once Upon a Room is a non-profit organization located in Los Angeles that has spread all over the nation. Andrew and other Lovett students are a part of the Atlanta teen chapter, where they continue to carry out the Once Upon a Room mission. A close friend of Andrew, Michael Doller, is president of the Altana teen division. Andrew joined a little over a year ago and has been an active member ever since.
Their main mission is “to promote happiness and healing” and Andrew says he feels that they have successfully done this.
In addition to visiting the hospitals and decorating the rooms, the club tries to raise money every year. Andrew was very excited to participate in this year’s bake sale.
“I woke up earlier Thursday morning to get a head start on setting up our stand,” he said. They had a large white table that had a sign saying Once Upon a Room. The original setup was in the lobby next to the athletic office, right in front of the doors Lovett students enter when coming from the parking garage and gravel.
“I was excited for my first shift,” Andrew said. His first shift was during his free period later in the day. The stand was not as busy then, as most kids were in class, but lunch was when the stand was really popping. For the lunch shift, they moved the stand outside in the plaza in perfect view for the students coming back from lunch.
Andrew considers the whole event a success because “kids kept coming back for more” he said. Andrew explained how he was calling people over by saying “You know you want a donut,” in hopes of enticing the Lovett students into supporting the bake sale.
I can confirm that these tactics did work, as I found myself purchasing two brownies. Andrew and I reminisced on our interaction when my friend Alaysia Georges paid 5 dollars to buy us our brownies. When I was at the stand, I was overwhelmed by all the options. They were selling brownies, blondies, cookies, brookies, and donuts.
I can attest that the brownie I was munching on was scrumdiddlyumptious, so you know I had to ask for the recipe. Andrew laughed and said, “Family secret.” However, he did tell me about all the hard work that went into making the treats. Andrew’s family as well as his girlfriend took the time to bake the brownies and the other treats were baked by Michael, Jane Mullin, and other members of the club.
The stand was managed throughout the entire day by different people taking different shifts, and by the end of the day, they made about $500. Andrew shouted out somebody who donated $50 and mentioned how grateful they were for their kind donation.
“It’s been wonderful to be able to have such a big impact on the lives of these kids that are experiencing so much trauma,” he said. “I love being able to offer them a moment of happiness while they endure these unfortunate circumstances.”
