Baking for Beneficiaries

Scarlet's brings out the baked goods

The Scarlet Foundation Inc., organizer of Scarlet's 37th Annual Bake Sale and Auction, is using this year's event to honor Cornelius ''Neil'' R. Alexander Jr., who served as chief hearing examiner of the D.C. Commission on Human Rights, and who died Nov. 19.

''Neil was part of the [bake sale] committee, and he was on the [Scarlet Foundation] board, so [we are honoring him] to have him still be a part of it, because he's still with us in memory,'' said Patrick Grady, a fellow board member who has taken on some of Alexander's previous duties.

The bake sale, scheduled for this Saturday, Feb. 9, at the DC Eagle, is free and open to the public.

Grady says five judges will pick four winners from the entries, due between noon and 3 p.m., which can include cakes and other items, before they are auctioned off at 4 p.m. The Scarlet Foundation Award will be given in four different categories: Best Commercial Entry, Best Club Entry, Best Individual Entry and Most Creative Entry.

Proceeds from this year's event will benefit Food & Friends and Pets-DC.

''We know the money is going to help with a freezer that they need,'' Grady says of Food & Friends. ''That's a good thing to let people realize that the money we're making will go to two organizations that will use the money wisely.''

In 2007, the bake sale raised $20,154.

Scarlet's 37th Annual Bake Sale and Auction begins at 4 p.m. at the DC Eagle, 639 New York Ave. NW. For more information, call Patrick Grady at 703-863-7295.

Photo from 2007 Scarlet's Bake Sale & Auction
[File photo by Ward Morrison]