As a well established Cinnamon Roll Queen, I must doff my cap to Whitney Rutz of Portland, Oregon, whose commitment to making giant ass cinnamon rolls for local health care workers has raised over $20,000 and counting for the Oregon Food Bank. The project began in mid-March, when Rutz began to accept the severity of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I started to spiral into despair,” Rutz told Portland Monthly, “So I said, I’m going to bake a giant cinnamon roll to cheer the house up.”
After Rutz posted about her huge cinnamon bun on social media, her friends and family started begging her for them. She then got the idea to auction off the next giant ass cinnamon bun she made to raise money for the Oregon Food Bank, thinking she would raise about $50. It sold for $300.
Once the first auction was closed, bidders began asking for another chance to get their hands on a giant ass cinnamon roll. After the third cinnamon roll sold for $1,125, the Oregon Food Bank created a personal fundraising page for Rutz, who decided that instead of auctioning off the giant ass cinnamon rolls, she would bake one for a local health care worker for every $500 raised. Rutz’s friend, singer k.d. lang, urged her to join Twitter to promote the endeavor, promising to retweet every post. Once @GiantAssCinRoll was created, things really began to take off:
To keep up with demand, the threshold was increased from $500 to $1,000, and the donations kept pouring in—from $5 to $5,000. Now the Giant Ass Cinnamon Roll challenge has switched its approach: the highest donation of the day wins, and the winner can choose to accept the roll themselves or donate it to a health care worker in their name. Currently, over $20,000 has been raised for the Oregon Food Bank. The Takeout salutes you, Whitney Rutz, for making a giant ass contribution to your community.