Meredith Allen, a 12-year-old girl from Mobile, Alabama, just baked nearly 2,000 cinnamon rolls to raise money for Christian charities in her area.
According to the local paper, The Alabama Baptist, Meredith’s idea for baking the thousands of cinnamon rolls came when her father, Derek Allen, became the pastor of the First Baptist Tillman’s Corner in Mobile, Alabama.
At the church, the boys and girls compete against each other to try and raise large offerings, with the winner being the group that brings in the heaviest offering. The boys had won, at the time she found out about the contest, for five years in a row.
So she settled her mind on winning and did so, hosting a bake sale to try to raise money for the church. Altogether, she raised about $1,000. Then, to try and win the heaviest offering contest, she got it all exchanged into pennies.
After getting a taste of victory, she wanted to win again. So she settled her mind on doing so and decided to bake thousands of cinnamon rolls to raise money. Every week in June, she’d spend a day and a half baking 40 dozen cinnamon rolls to sell and raise money.
Lindsay Allen commented on her daughter’s efforts, saying, “A lot of the time she spent making and selling these cinnamon rolls was sacrificial. She could’ve been playing with friends or sleeping in … but the way God was using that to grow her character was really great.”
What made the treats take so long is that Meredith made them with sourdough, so she had to spend a day making the dough and letting it rise before baking them. Then, once it was done, she would bake the treats and slather them in icing so that they’d be ready for sale.
Then Meredith and Lindsay would set up a tent at a local park for two hours and sell the cinnamon rolls. Lindsay helped market the tasty treats on Facebook, but it was members of their faith community that really helped Meredith sell the hundreds of cinnamon rolls every weekend.
Commenting on that, Lindsay said that members of the church “helped us connect with people at the park and bless and thank the customers who came to show their support.” She added, “We were able to meet people who were visiting the park and invite them to church and to VBS.”
Altogether, the thousands of cinnamon rolls raised $2,610 for the church, with the money to be split between the Send Network project in Puerto Rico, a missionary family in Southeast Asia, and Gideon Bibles.
Her mother announced that on Facebook, saying, “$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.”
Her father commented on his daughter’s baking efforts as well, saying, “God has given her baking skills to use for His glory. I thought it was something she might try and then get tired of, but she has taken on the responsibility of all the baking this month with perseverance and consistency.”
Commenting on her idea to have the money converted to pennies and then other girls helped her weigh them to win the contest, he added, “That was her idea. It’s all for the cause of Christ; it’s not about her.”
Featured image credit: Lindsay Allen Facebook
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