Sinclair Community College Culinary Arts students baked more than 140 dozen cookies to send to soldiers in Afghanistan on Sept. 28. Chef Frank Liebold, who oversaw the baking, said it was a chance for students to learn professional production techniques while providing a community service.
“Generally, we just couldn’t produce that; it would be too much waste. But this is perfect because now it all gets packaged and sent to Afghanistan to our troops who are stationed abroad,” Liebold said. “It helps out the army moms, I’m able now to teach this to the class, so it just piggybacks perfect(ly).”
Liebold was asked about the project by self-proclaimed Army mom Marilyn Ballmann. He used the opportunity to teach his students about a particular machine that bakeries use for large-scale cookie production. Many students had never used the machine before because of the high quantity of cookies required to use it.
“When it’s going to a worthy cause like this, like the troops stationed abroad, then there’s a reason for them to do it and a reason for me to justify the expense of doing it,” Liebold said.
Ballmann, whose son will return to Iraq in January, said the project was about appreciation and showing the soldiers that people still care about them. Ballmann packed six to eight dozen cookies into each box herself.
Hannah Peterson, a Culinary Arts student, said it was nice to bake the cookies for the soldiers. She admits that she isn’t sure how she feels about the overseas conflict, but she enjoyed baking and learning how to use the cookie machine.
“It’s very self-sacrificing of (the soldiers) to be over there,” Peterson said.
Ballmann is planning on including a typed list of names of the students who helped on Sinclair’s letterhead in each box of cookies. When asked how she felt about the project, she stopped packing and took a deep breath.
“Wow,” Ballmann said. “I’m blessed. That’s all I can say.”