Spread the Bread (click for Starter Kit) - - Spread the Bread is a community bread-giving campaign to help youth get into the spirit of giving and to spread goodwill to heroes and to those in need. It was conceived as a simple yet effective opportunity for people to nurture children's innate generosity and promote appreciation of and concern for others as a necessary part of community life. The campaign teaches children that they can make a difference, regardless of their age. It also gives a message to those who inspire us and those in need of support that they are not forgotten. For both bakers and recipients, "bread-spreading" promotes respect for the importance and dignity of each member of society. Visit www.spreadthebread.org  and learn about this project and the patch that is available for Girl Scouts. It started years ago when a woman's family baked and wrapped breads like gifts and spread breads to our neighbors, family, friends, nursing homes, local charities.

This group now asks local families and friends to get back into their kitchens and bake bread--any kind of bread. The important thing was to find a simple way to gather people around (especially kids) to bake and talk about life and the importance of giving back and making a difference. After the bread was baked, we asked people to wrap the bread and then tie an expression of "goodwill" on the bread--a simple card, artwork, a poem, a meaningful story--anything that communicated an uplifting message. We then directed people to drop off the breads at local schools, businesses and churches. What happen next was incredible--hundreds and later thousands of different kinds of bread spread to honor our heroes and to help those in need. The word spread and so did the project--we heard from people all over that were beginning to spread bread...This year, we will celebrate our 6th year of "officially" spreading bread and it has become a year round national mission. It's really because of people like you that help it grow by spreading our message and putting meaning into the art of baking bread and then taking action.