Best of CASE District VIII Award, Virginia Carter Smith Grand Crystal Award Finalist
 

Institution: Lethbridge College

Title of entry: Kodiak Coke Cake Holiday Bake-Off

About this entry: The Lethbridge College Alumni Engagement team successfully completed our third annual competition called the Kodiak Coke Cake Contest, and we are proud to nominate it for this award.

The project involves giving free cake kits to alumni, students and employees who want to participate in a project that brings people together for some fun over the holidays. The kits are put together by our amazing Culinary students and instructors, and they come all set in a branded bag with cake mix, a can of Coke (which is used in the recipe), icing sugar and recipe cards. Participants have to then use their creativity to decorate the cake, either with a Coke theme or a Kodiaks theme. Those who want to can submit photos to the Alumni Engagement team, who then post the pictures on social media for the community to vote on. The winner or winners get great prizes. But many people just use the cake mix and recipe to make a great treat for their families and friends.

Our team started this project during the COVID-19 pandemic when we were looking for creative ways to engage with our alumni community, and it ended up being such a huge hit that we continued it even once things started to open up. This year we were able to give out over 200 kits, with over 50 entries, and two winners.