Southern California bakers gear up for Sharsheret’s Thanksgiving ‘Pies for Prevention’ fundraiser

(Photos courtesy of Julie Fax and Sharsheret)

In 2008, Bay-area sisters Adeena Sussman and Sharon Wieder partnered with breast and ovarian cancer support nonprofit Sharsheret to create a Pies For Prevention Thanksgiving Bake Sale. The sisters devised the program to honor both their mother and grandmother who died of ovarian cancer. 

The sale became an annual tradition and to date has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for both the Stephanie Sussman and Ann Nadrich Memorial Jewel Fund and Sharsheret’s Ovarian cancer program. What began in the sisters’ kitchens has expanded to include friends, strangers and Sharsheret members hosting bake sales across the country as well as in Canada and Israel. 

Volunteer home bakers are hosting local bake sales in Century City, Pico-Robertson, Tarzana and Thousand Oaks. Orders must be placed by a specific deadline and can be picked up at specific locations before Thanksgiving. All ingredients are certified kosher and pareve.

Karen Goss who is on the Sharsheret advisory committee is still taking orders for the Tarzana bake sale. She’s making pumpkin loaves and peanut butter chocolate chip blondies.

Photo courtesy of Sharsheret

“My kids will be coming over and helping me bake,” she said “We are going to make it a family event, just like getting through a cancer diagnosis is a family fight. I was first introduced to Sharsheret 18 years ago while my sister-in-law was battling breast cancer…This event is important to me because it is more personal than just asking for donations. I feel that Sharsheret is a family that I am proud to be a part of.”

Los Angeles resident Julie Fax has been friends with Sussman since the eighth grade, and has been hosting bake sales at her home since 2016. She expects to prepare more than 200 desserts this year. She has a spreadsheet to stay organized, and will spend next week baking and preparing boxes with a small group of friends and family.

“I really do it because it’s an amazing way to connect to Adeena and remember her mother, and connect to my whole community in Los Angeles,” she told SoCal Jewish News. “It’s a sisterhood of pies. It feels really good.”

To find a local bake sale, click here. Order deadlines vary from Nov. 17 to Nov. 24.