Synnovation Lab students bake for a cause

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Allison McElroy

SELL. These are an assortment of sweet treats from Sophia Odaka and Ellie Torem’s “holiday gram” sale. Odaka and Torem had a bake sale for their project-based learning in the Synnovation Lab. The proceeds of their sale will be used to make welcome baskets for hospitalized children and their families who are staying at the Ronald McDonald House. “I had a lot of fun doing the bake sale,” Torem said.

Students in the Synnovation Lab are required to create a project as a part of their project-based learning. The students are supposed to find a problem in the world and try to help solve it.

For sophomores Sophia Odaka and Ellie Torem, this meant baking for a cause.

For their project, Odaka and Torem sold “holiday grams.” They had a table at lunch from Nov. 27 through Nov. 30 where students and staff could order baked goods. Then, the baked goods were delivered Dec. 4 and 5.

The proceeds from the bake sale support an important cause: the Ronald McDonald House. Odaka and Torem will use the money raised to make personalized welcome baskets for new patients who are staying at the Ronald McDonald House.

“Ellie and I have a really close connection to the Ronald McDonald House, and the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and we noticed how hard it must be for the family and patient to come to a new environment,” Odaka said.

The Ronald McDonald House is a place where hospitalized children and their families can stay while receiving treatment. The children are all facing many challenges and may have to live there for a long time.

The welcome baskets will help to brighten up a child’s stay at the Ronald McDonald House. For more information, visit the Ronald McDonald House website

Odaka and Torem hope to eventually expand their welcome baskets to the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital as well.

“I think [the bake sale] not only helped our community, but it opened the eyes of many Sycamore students in ways to help. We received donations from one dollar to 20 dollars.

“None of these donations were pushed upon the students, so I think it was an amazing thing that they did for the holiday season,” Torem said.  

Odaka and Torem are grateful to everyone who supported their project.

“We appreciate every donation given and baked good that was bought,” Odaka said.