Fuel the ride

Providing healthy food for kids

Since 2007, Erin Baker’s Wholesome Baked Goods, based in Bellingham, has been helping kids get fueled up and geared up for skiing or snowboarding at the Mt. Baker Ski Area.

Erin Baker’s Healthy Start Foundation has been working with the ski area to provide healthy breakfasts, free of charge, to middle and high school students participating in any of the ski area’s winter programs. Every Saturday during the Winter Ride program, Baker hands out free breakfast cookies or cups of granola and milk to students in the program.

“Baker’s Breakfast Cookies has made an incredibly generous contribution to the Winter Ride participants,” Blaine area Winter Ride coordinator Julie Apeles said. “We leave early in the morning and the kids don’t have time to eat before getting on the bus. Now they can grab a healthy breakfast cookie before hitting the slopes.”

In addition to the free breakfast cookies and granola, Baker’s Healthy Start Foundation awards scholarships to children who would otherwise not be able to afford skiing or snowboarding lessons. All the proceeds of Baker’s Wholesome Goods sold at the Mt. Baker Ski Area are used to provide scholarships for the Winter Ride program.

Mt. Baker Ski Area has offered its bus, lesson and rental Winter Ride program for the past 50 years. It is available in January and February to students in grade six through 12 in Whatcom, Skagit, San Juan, Island and Snohomish counties. X