When it comes to fighting cancer, everyone has their own way of contributing to the cause. But for local State Farm agent Kathy Powell, her weapons of choice are cookies and competition.


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“I think cancer is just something that affects everyone,” Powell said. “If it’s not you or a family member, it’s a friend. It’s just so widespread and something that potentially we could figure out a way to cure.”

With February being National Cancer Prevention Month, Powell’s State Farm office is sponsoring a competition called “Cookies for Cancer.” She is inviting local children, students, adults and businesses to decorate cookie boxes for her office.

“My office and I decided last year that we wanted to adopt Relay for Life as our cause that we want to work toward,” Powell said. “We really wanted to have something that we could put money toward to maybe save some lives in the future.”

Last year her office had several different fundraisers, including asking friends and family to donate, having a yard sale at the office and having her father dress up as Santa at Christmas time so that children could get pictures with him for a small donation.

This year, though, Powell and her staff had a new idea.

“For probably seven years [I have] been taking these cookie boxes around as a way to advertise,” Powell said. “Those boxes are red and have my name stamped on it, but…we came up with the idea of making the boxes white and putting the Cookies for Cancer information on it and getting it out to children, to businesses, to adults, to high school and college students and asking them to decorate the back of the box.

“They (participants) decorate the boxes, they bring them back to me…and we will scan the boxes in, put them on our Facebook page and ask folks to vote,” Powell said. “They vote by ‘liking’ the picture of the box, and the boxes with the most votes in each age group, in each category, for individuals, the first place gets $50, second place gets $25, and third place gets $10.” The winning business will receive a $100 prize.

Powell will donate $1 for each box that is turned back into her by Feb. 7. Online voting will take place Feb. 8–14, and the winners will be announced on Feb. 15.

“There’s still plenty of time,” Powell said. “If you are interested in getting a box please do come by our office…and pick up a box.”

The competition is heating up. After running out of the first 500 boxes that she ordered, Powell was delighted to put in an order for 500 more boxes.

For more information or to check out and vote for the decorated boxes, visit Kathy Powell’s Facebook page or the event page.