MINNEAPOLIS, MN (April 10, 2008) \u2013 Who knew quiche was so popular?<\/p>\n
Not the people who baked quiche as part of a Bethlehem Covenant Church fundraiser to help pay for the senior high group\u2019s summer mission trip to Queens, New York. The plan was to bake the quiche, which customers later would pick up or students would deliver.<\/p>\n
The church has conducted this event in the past and had based the planning for this year\u2019s event on the typical volume of orders. \u201cThe most they had ever done was 150 max,\u201d says new youth pastor Kyle Cross.<\/p>\n
Then the students started turning in the orders they had received from family, friends and neighbors.
\nAnd the 150 average? That quickly stretched to 170 \u2026 200 \u2026 250 \u2026 and finally 280 orders. \u201cWe weren\u2019t prepared for the number we got,\u201d Cross says. \u201cWe were overwhelmed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking of numbers, consider the time impact on Laura Diamond, who was leading the fundraiser, and Cross \u2013 they spent 14 hours baking quiche.<\/p>\n
They started baking at 1 p.m. on Saturday and continued until 1 a.m. Sunday. The pair took a break, but Diamond returned at 4 a.m. to continue the baking, and Cross joined her later. Cross says the baking took so long because the ovens could hold only 20 quiches at a time.<\/p>\n
Others adults did kitchen prep: the \u201ccrack team\u201d of Anne Malachway, Chelsa Jensen, Ruth Koontz, Rhonda Isaacs, Lynettee Clausen and Jeanne Woolley cubed 75 pounds of ham and turkey and chopped numerous large bowls of vegetables. As for the main ingredient, the cooks cracked 1,680 eggs.<\/p>\n
The students were responsible for organizing the quiche orders and making sure the items were delivered to the right people.<\/p>\n
All of the work led to a profit of $1,400 to help support the cost of the mission trip. When in Queens, the students will work with the homeless and in senior centers, also assisting with construction work, Cross says.<\/p>\n
And what about the next quiche fundraiser? Cross says the \u201cwhen\u201d part remains uncertain, but the \u201chow\u201d part is clear: \u201cWe will handle the logistics differently.\u201d<\/p>\n