Gingerbread Boutique a winner for charity

SWEET TOOTH- Westlake Hills Elementary School kindergartner Allison Hallock, 6, licks the icing from a cupcake at the Cupcakes for Cancer booth at the Westlake Village Junior Women's Club 26th annual Gingerbread Fundraising Boutique at St. Maximilian Kolbe Church last Friday. JANN HENDRY Acorn Newspapers

The Westlake Junior Women's Club held its 26th annual Gingerbread Fundraising Boutique last week at St. Maximilian Kolbe Church in Westlake Village.

Patrons arriving early in the morning of Nov. 15 attended the "Candy Cane Lane" VIP reception, which included a continental breakfast catered by Merlin's Kitchen.

Artisans at the boutique sold apparel, jewelry, children's clothing and toys, handmade crafts, bed and bath essentials, handbags, shoes and holiday decor.

Blakely Colven, 13, sold homemade cupcakes to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Tri-Counties.

Blakely, a survivor herself, started her own nonprofit, Cupcakes for Cancer, and has already raised thousands of dollars for a classmate with leukemia. She hopes to raise enough funds to grant a wish for other kids living with cancer.

Shoppers were able to bid on theme-decorated trees during the event's "Festival of Trees and Lights" silent auction. Westlake Village Junior Women's Club members sold homemade baked goods, including pumpkin pie bars, chocolate chip cookies, brownies and carrot cake loafs.

Proceeds from the boutique benefit local charities including Many Mansions, Lighthouse Women and Children's Mission, Senior Concerns/Meals on Wheels, MakeAWish Foundation and Santa Comes to Agoura, among others.

For more information, call Lesley Lippel at (818) 597-1617 or visit www.westlakejuniors.org.