Youth: share your baking activity or community project
and be eligible to Win $1,000!

The Home Baking Association, ADM Milling Company, and the Maddie Kruse Family have partnered to present the new youth educator award, Bake to Give – The Maddie Kruse Youth Award. Bringing attention to youth bakers who are actively making a difference in their communities, the award aims to inspire others to do the same. Maddie Kruse was a smart, fun loving, kindhearted and crafty sixteen-year-old whose life was needlessly cut short by a drunk driver.

Maddie was passionate about baking and sharing because baking benefits communities large or small, local and beyond. Baking to give makes communities stronger, benefits local needs, and can raise funds to help support others. Maddie’s contagious smile and zest for life is irreplaceable. Help us celebrate baking and honor the legacy of a young baker whose life is inspiring others to make a difference. 

Entry Deadline: May 31st, 2023

Download official flyer with educational resources

What to Enter? Submit a one page description of how you shared baking in your community and made a difference. Provide pictures, videos, recipes and other materials that show an impact in your community.

Need ideas? Check out our Bake to Give resources

Who’s Eligible? Youths in grades 7th through 12th are invited to submit an entry for this award.

Where to Apply? Use this submission form, or email or mail your application and entry materials to:

Home Baking Association
2931 SW Gainsboro Road
Topeka, KS 66614-4413

Getting to Know Maddie:

Madeline Kruse, or as she’d like to be called Maddie, was a smart, fun loving, kindhearted and crafty sixteen-year-old.  She loved her family, friends, her dog and softball.  One of Maddie’s greatest joys was baking and especially baking recipes that have been handed down for generations. A few examples would be Maddie making her Great-Great-Grandmas Christmas cookies to making her grandma’s chocolate chip cookies.  She loved making cinnamon scones on lazy Saturday mornings and then her final baking recipe was a coconut cream pie for her mom’s birthday.

On May 31, 2015, Maddie was tragically taken from us at the age of sixteen by a drunk driver.  She had just finished her junior year of high school and was so excited to enter her senior year.  Maddie was very involved in her high school.  She was elected to the Student Council for her senior year and was also active in softball and golf. Maddie loved tutoring in the inner-city schools to young kids. She was an amazing writer and earned several awards and had several pieces published in the school periodicals. 

Mother’s Against Drunk Driving Bio

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