Sisters dedicate their time and talents to help others
From left, Alexis and Grace Mescher shopped for and purchased school supplies to donate to the Family Resource Center following one of their very successful bake sales. (Photo submitted)
By Caroline Rosacker
Beth Mescher and her two daughters, Alexis, age 11, and Grace, age 9, have been generously giving their time and talent to raise money for the Guttenberg Municipal Hospital & Clinics (GMHC) Family Resource Center (FRC) and the Guttenberg Care Center since 2020.
Generous hearts
The two young girls came up with the idea when they were first learning to cook and bake during the Covid-19 pandemic. "Alexis was learning to cook eggs, and wanted to sell egg sandwiches to raise money for people that were hospitalized with Covid," Beth recalled. "I explained to the girls that it wouldn't be possible, but we could donate the money to the Family Resource Center so they could purchase school supplies for families in need."
Although the egg sandwich idea never materialized, the ambitious trio decided it would be more profitable to sell fresh baked desserts and treats. "The first year we raised 600 dollars!" the girls enthusiastically shared.
Alexis and Grace both enjoy helping their mother in the kitchen. "I like to bake just about anything," said Alexis.
"I like to bake cakes because then I get to frost them," commented Grace.
The first year the girls decided to have a two-day combination lemonade/bake sale stand at the end of their driveway on Bluff Street. "They wanted to have a selection of ten different items for customers to choose from, so I took two days off from work and we started to bake," Beth fondly remembered. "We sold out in the first two hours. I ended up staying up until 1 a.m. baking so we could have fresh goodies available the following day."
Learning important life lessons
A year later at the same location the girls reduced the sale to one day and raised 1,000 dollars. "The second year the girls shopped for the school supply items themselves," noted Beth. "I wanted them to experience how far the money would go."
The Mescher family relocated to Acre St. and held another successful lemonade/bake sale. "We made 2,600 dollars that year!" the girls chimed in.
"Someone gave us a 100 dollar bill because she couldn't eat sweets!" said Grace.
That year half the money was donated to the Guttenberg Care Center for their activity program, and the other half went to FRC for school supplies.
The following year Beth and her daughters raised 3,200 dollars. The money went to FRC and was used to purchase school supplies and medical needs such as gas cards and hotel stays.
Dependable volunteers
The girls are also dependable volunteers at the GMHC GermanFest 5K Run – passing out food and water to participants; ticket takers at Stars and Stripes inflatables, walk the parade route passing out candy for GMHC, and more recently took tickets at Umbrella Arts Dahlias and Desserts Garden walk.
"We helped Jackie Lee set up and tear down shade canopies and made parking signs too," They shared.
For the past two years Alexis has worked the Chamber of Commerce and FRC concession stand while her younger sister plays ball.
A giving spirit
Beth is the girls' inspiration when it comes to volunteer work. She organized a large garage sale with proceeds benefitting Kids Kampus, raising over 1,500 dollars. She and the girls cleaned Kids Kampus and power washed the outside and cut back the weeds and helped take care of the garden surrounding the facility. Beth likes to use these opportunities to teach her girls important life lessons. "Last year, when preparing for our bake sale, our conversation was about how expensive groceries are. We learned about budget conscious ingredients and packaging so we could still make a sizable profit to donate. We would still make an amazing profit because people are so very generous."
Beth grew up on a farm in New Vienna where helping people out was just being a good neighbor. She learned to bake at her mother's side. "On our farm the girl always got to stay in the house and bake and cook all day. I really learned to love it," she said.
The girls went on to describe their favorite things to bake and eat, and collectively agreed cleaning up is the worst part. They remembered during the Covid-19 pandemic that they had to wear full masks and gloves inside and outside while baking and selling the items.
"It feels really good when we can help out," said Grace.
"It make us feel good to help others that are less fortunate," they commented. "It always comes back in a good way. Someone will always compliment and thank you."
"It has been a lot of fun and the girls have met some very nice people, many who have become bake sale regulars," Beth concluded with a smile.
