A 12-year-old girl in Mobile, Alabama, is getting tons of attention after baking nearly 2,000 cinnamon rolls for a good cause.
Derek and Lindsay Allen are the proud parents of Meredith, who spent hours upon hours baking and selling her cinnamon rolls, the Alabama Baptist reported Saturday.
“She could’ve been playing with friends or sleeping in … but the way God was using that to grow her character was really great,” Lindsay said.
When Derek became the pastor of First Baptist Tillman’s Corner, his daughter had an original idea for when the girls and boys who attend Vacation Bible School (VBS) compete to see which group can come up with the biggest offering every year.
The boys kept winning; so, Meredith decided to have a bake sale and raised approximately $800 which helped the girls’ team win after she exchanged the money for all pennies.
Since this year is the last time Meredith can attend VBS, a program whose purpose is to minister to children and connect with the community, she focused on baking cinnamon rolls and selling them to the community weekly in June.
The labor-intensive project took many hours of work, and her mother helped her advertise on social media for the bake sale they set up at a nearby park.
“Help Meredith raise money for the VBS missions AND enjoy homemade cinnamon rolls. It’s a win-win,” Derek wrote in a social media post on June 24:
Church congregants also helped with the sale which gave the family opportunities to make friends with neighbors.
The project eventually raised $2,610, and Lindsay shared a photo on Friday of Meredith with boxes of pennies used for the offering.
“$2,610 in pennies! Almost broke the scale. Thank you to all of you who helped her reach and exceed her goal. The money will go to help missionaries in Puerto Rico, Southeast Asia, and the Gideons,” she wrote:
Her parents are extremely proud of her accomplishment, and Derek said, “God has given her baking skills to use for His glory.”
Social media users also praised the girl for her hard work, one person writing, “Meredith is such a special young lady who is doing great things for God’s glory..this is TREMENDOUS!!!”
“What a wonderful testimony of Meredith’s heart for missions!!” another commented.
