In 2007 at the age of two, Liam Witt, the son of longtime OXOnians Gretchen and Larry Witt, was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer. OXOnians regard each other as family, and news of Liam’s diagnosis hit us all hard.
Childhood cancer is the leading cause of disease-related death of children in the United States. The reason, sadly, is simple: lack of funding for new, improved, and less toxic therapies for cancers specific to children. Even though pediatric cancer claims the lives of more children annually than any other disease, it receives less than four percent of the National Cancer Institute’s budget.
Motivated to help, Gretchen and Larry had the “crazy” idea to host a larger-than-life cookie sale, gathering more than 250 volunteers (many of them fellow OXOnians) to sell 96,000 cookies — and in just a few weeks they managed to raise more than $400,000 to fund a promising new treatment. Nine months later, they launched Cookies for Kids’ Cancer(Opens in a new window) as a national non-profit organization inspiring grassroots bake sales to help fund research on pediatric cancer. Since then, Cookies has granted more than $18 million, funding 110 grants for research projects, including 25 that are now available treatments.
In 2011, Liam lost his battle with cancer, and it profoundly impacted everyone at OXO. For years, Liam was a fixture in our office. He would visit frequently, riding around on his orange scooter, providing unsolicited (but always helpful) product feedback and sharing his vivacious energy. From a very young age he had a clear vision of what he wanted to do when he grew up: become a chef and run OXO. We have no doubt he would have achieved both of his goals.
What is OXO's commitment to CFKC?
Through the years, OXOnians have devoted their personal time, energy, and money to support Cookies, but after losing Liam, the company wanted to play a larger role. In 2011, OXO formalized its partnership with Cookies for Kids Cancer, pledging to donate up to $100,000* per year and plan campaigns to encourage others to join the fight against pediatric cancer. Since 2011, we’ve helped inspire other “good cookies” to raise over $3.6 million and host more than 4,000 events in over 831 cities globally.
How to get involved with OXO + Cookies for Kids’ Cancer
This year, there are two ways to Bake a Difference:
#1 Social Media Sharing
1. Bake cookies
Choose your favorite cookie recipe or get inspired by one of ours:
- Marc Forgione’s Orange-Scented Olive Oil Cake
- Sarah Sanneh’s French Yogurt Cake
- Joanne Chang’s Double Chocolate Cookies
- Marc Murphy's S’mores Cookies
- Kristen Tomlan’s Salted Candy Blondie Bars
- Dorie Greenspan’s Visiting Cake Bars
- Dan Kluger’s Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Rick Martinez’s Double Dutch Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
- David Burtka’s Pumpkin Seed Bar Mix
- Elisabeth Prueitt’s Tartine Bakery Cornmeal-Ricotta Upside-Down Cake
- Renata Ameni of Crown Shy Lemon Cookies with Caramelized Milk Jam
- Sarah Sanneh’s Blackberry Bran Muffins
- Joanne Chang’s Ginger Fortune Cookies
- OXO’s Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies
2. Share on social
Snap a pic, use #OXOGoodCookies(Opens in a new window) and tag @oxo and @Cookies4kids.
3. We donate $1 per cookie
We'll give $1 for each cookie in every post—up to $100,000.
#2 Host a Bake Sale
1. Register on the Bake a Difference Campaign Page(Opens in a new window)
From a virtual bake sale to the real-life version, register your bake sale to receive a baking kit. (Opens in a new window)OXO will match every donation up to $100,000.
Need help getting started in the kitchen? Check out our list of essential tools every home baker needs.
*We will match/donate up to our annual $100k commitment.
