West Des Moines Charity Gets a Rush From Holiday Sugar Dash

Last year, when the West Des Moines Christian Church put on its Great Cookie Walk to raise money for the community-supported Youth Justice Initiative, the 19,000 cookies were stacked so deep that the 600 people rushing for sugar missed some of the nearly 250 recipes.

And that’s a shame, because some of them were pure objets d’art that make gingerbread houses seem ordinary. These aren’t just any cookies. Some look like sugar plums, others like holiday mice, and there will even be an 8-inch chocolate snowman that can be decorated with the buyer’s name, as well as personalized sugarmen and sugar angels.

This year, it’ll be cookies as far as the eye can see, Jim Charling told the West Des Moines City Council Monday night. “We’ve changed configuration,” said Charling, who is heading up the Cookie Walk forhis church. “We’ll have 60 percent more table space.”

Last year, the event raised $8,000, and $33,500 has been raised since the cookie walks began.

The Youth Justice Initiative is a collaborative community effort working with youthful offenders, helping not only to reintegrate offenders into their community, but also providing for victim reconciliation. The program began in 2000, serves about 100 youths a year and has a low 10 percent recidivism rate within six months.

The program operates on a minimal budget. Cookie walk proceeds will supplement grants from West Des Moines Community Schools, United Way of Central Iowa, the city of West Des Moines and the West Des Moines Police Department.