A Fund for Jennie

I have met the most amazing people all because I started writing a food blog to remember the recipes and resource I found to live gluten free.  I’ve met people in the comment section on this blog, on Facebook, on twitter, at Food Blogging Conferences, in the grocery store, at my school IIN, and through other food bloggers.  I find there are many people out there as passionate about food as I am and we have formed a strong bond.  It’s so strong that when one of us hurts, we all hurt.  We are all hurting very deeply.

For the past few weeks I’ve been reading all the wonderful posts about Jennie and the love of her life Mikey.  Mikey died suddenly of a heart attack at age 51 on August 7th.  My heart just breaks for Jennie and her two little girls ages 3 and 8.  For those who have not met Jennie Perillo, she writes a food blog, In Jennie’s Kitchen.  I’ve met Jennie at a few food blogging conferences and she was always so nice.  She sat in on many panels I attended and always had great advice and information to share.

She like so many in the food world, give.  They give a part of their soul to you when they share the food they create and the stories they share.

As you can imagine, Jennie is overwhelmed not only by her grief, and the sudden responsibility of raising two children by herself, but she is also struggling with this financially. She just learned that she cannot collect widow’s benefits from Social Security because she earns too much money each year. The health insurance for her and her kids runs out in December and she just learned that the total she will have to pay will be more than her mortgage. It’s possible she’ll have to pay off the entire mortgage in one lump sum because the apartment was in his name alone. And more than anything, Mikey wanted Jennie to continue living her dream of being a food writer. And he wanted to make sure his kids were taken care of well. That’s why he worked as hard as he did. So I want to help. And I hope you want to help too.

Please do whatever you feel works for you.  This is about giving love and help and I would not want you to think this should be given out of guilt or for any other reason.  If you can donate $5, $50, $500, $5,000 or any amount is helpful.

I’m sharing just a few ways you can help.

1. Donate through this link

2. Bid on this auction

3. Create your own auction, contact Shauna Ahern at Gluten Free Girl and the Chef

If you would like to donate to A Fund for Jennie, please click on this Bloggers Without Borders button. It will take you straight to the PayPal account.  All the money donated for Jennie will go through Blogger Without Borders, a non-profit organization created by Maggy and Erika to be a conduit for the good efforts and well wishes of this food blogging community to do something.  

Donate to Bloggers Without Borders

How about an Auction!

I have gone shopping and bought all of my kitchen favorites.  I’ve put them together in this amazing set and I’m auctioning it off here.  To keep it simple you can bid on this by leaving your bid in the comment section.  This auction will close on Friday September 9th at 11:00pm EST.  I will ship all of this to the winner and if you want to split the shipping costs with me that would be great.  The bidding will open at $300.

This Dream Kitchen Kit could be purchased for you, to split up with a group of friends, to be given out as holiday gifts to your friends and family, maybe a wedding gift or whatever fun things you come up with.  With this kit all you need is a cutting board and a sharp knife and you’re good to go!

All you have to do is BID NOW!

This Dream Kitchen Kit is valued at $879.45.

All-Clad Tri-Ply Stainless-Steel Saute` Simmer, 4 qt  with lid– you can cook just about anything in this pan and then toss it into the oven to boot.  value $245

All-Clad Tri-Ply Stainless-Steel Steamer Set, 3 Qt. – Love that this is a 3qt saucepan all on it’s own and you get the steamer basket too.  Great to steam vegetables, fish, dumplings or whatever.  I know for me I never have enough sauce pans, especially when the holidays arrive.  value $300

Rosti White Melamine Mixing Bowl Set – I use this set for just about everything from soaking grains, mixing up batter and filling up the large bowl with popcorn.  value $49.95

Nordic Ware Rolled Omelette Pan– this is a fun pan that will make anyone an expert omelette maker.  It’s the first time I’ve had my Daiya cheese totally melt.  Now I can have others in the house making omelettes too.  value $39.95

Le Crueset Oval Cocotte 12 ounce capacity– how cute is this.  It’s very handy if you are making a dish just for one or a side dish.  value $35

Collapsible Salad Spinner, 5 qt – this is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen and I don’t have one yet.  I love salad spinners but they take up so much room.  This one doesn’t and I love the rip chord you pull to spin the lettuce.  Also use the inside unit as a stand alone colander.  value $29

Silicone Locking Tongs– I rarely use anything else in my saute` pan when cooking.  You have so much more control over what is going on in that pan when you use tongs.  value $28

Swissmar Multi Slicer– sometimes you don’t want to get out your large mandoline and you don’t want to spend the time cutting up your veggies julianne.  This is a quick solution.  value $25

Lemon or Lime Press– this makes adding lemon or lime juice to a recipe while cooking a breeze.  value  $20

Tripple Timer – I don’t know about you but I often have more than one thing cooking in the kitchen at the same time.  Instead of 3 separate timers, use just this one and set 3 different times.  value $20

Euro Oven Mit– this is the only mit I’ve ever had that I have not gotten burnt using.  value  $23

Traditional Fish Spatula– this is one of my favorites.  Sometimes you just need a delicate turner when flipping fish or something else that could fall apart.  value $15

Fine Microplane- this is wonderful for zesting citrus or maybe topping off your cupcake or coffee with a little chocolate.  value $15

Fine Mesh Stainless Steal Strainer– I don’t know what I would do without one of these.  When you’re straining your stock, making a sauce where you don’t want the seeds and countless other uses.  value  $15

The WHOLE Gang Apron – my own creation that I wanted you to have so you can keep your clothes clean while cooking.  value $19.95

Thank you for participating in this auction.  This auction is now CLOSED.

Remember to leave your bid in the comment section.  Opening bid is $300.  Auction closes Friday September 9th at 11:00pm EST.  Good luck!

12 Responses to A Fund for Jennie

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