Campus Connection

Family bake sale benefits cancer patients, local research

On Dec. 2, UW-La Crosse alumnus and staff member Scott Peterson, '08, and his relatives raised more than $4,200 to support people in the Sparta area receiving cancer treatment, as well as local cancer research. For the past 15 years the family has held a bake sale at the town hall in Leon, Wisconsin — a central location for many relatives — with all proceeds going to Sparta Area Cancer Support Inc. (SACS). In addition to providing research dollars, SACS also helps area cancer patients pay for gas, groceries and other expenses. [caption id="attachment_50582" align="alignright" width="200"] Scott Peterson[/caption] In a black-Friday like rush, customers lined up outside the door to purchase thousands of cookies, donuts, lefsa, pies, breads and bars at this year’s sale. They were sold out of most items by about 9 a.m., adds Peterson. Anyone who missed the December sale, can prepare for another come spring. The family holds bake sales prior to Christmas and Easter each year. They started the tradition after losing Peterson’s grandfathers to cancer in the 1990s. They decided to start the sale in their memory and also to support SACS, which formed in 2000. “We wanted to help our neighbors as we knew people who were going though the same thing,” he says. “SACS motto is ‘neighbors helping neighbors.’” Peterson started as the budget manager for the College of Business Administration and the School of Education in June 2017.