Bakers Against Racism: Thousands Come Together For Online Bake Sale Supporting Black Lives Matter Protests

In a show of solidarity with the various Black Lives Matter protests around the world, bakers and bakeshops from around the world joined together for a massive online bake sale to benefit various community and rights organizations.

"Bakers Against Racism" and was organized by pastry chefs Paola Velez, Willa Lou Pelini and Rob Rubba. Velez formally announced the bake sale in an Instagram post from June 4, “to fight and stand up against the unjust treatment of BLACK people in the United States.”

“Bakers Against Racism” began on Monday and is scheduled to run through Saturday. Bakers and shops from 15 countries opened individual order pages and were asked by the organizers to bake at least 150 dessert items for the sale. They will then donate a “majority” of the proceeds raised from their individual sales to foundations of their choosing, though some have already committed to donating all their respective proceeds.

By Monday, around 2,400 participants from around the world had committed to the bake sale. Many amateur and professional bakers participating took to Instagram to share some of the baked goods they created for the sale.

“It's been a tough few months, and the idea of selling sweet treats to raise money for an organization that's doing tangible good in my community seemed perfect,” Chicago resident and photographer Laura Scherb told TODAY. Scherb said she was baking homemade Pop-Tarts for the sale and donating all proceeds to My Block My Hood My City, a Chicago-based organization helping underprivileged youth.

Daisy Chow, another participant from Boston, said the choice to join was not difficult despite recent business struggles brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’ve been quiet on social but very busy in real life just keeping things afloat, but once I saw this bake sale was happening, it was a no-brainer to participate,” Chow told Boston.com. “All the proceeds will go to Black Girls Code — because all of us at Breadboard understand the foundation of a good education and exposure to science and technology — and the Maine Community Foundation’s People of Color Fund.”