Bakes for Breast Cancer, a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding breast cancer researchers and clinicians, will be hosting a fundraiser from July 18-24.

Founder Carol Sneider launched this event and organization in memory of her mother who lost her battle with breast cancer at the age of 43. The best memories Sneider recalls were the times spent in the kitchen baking bread, cakes and other sweet treats.

Since its inception in 1999, Bakes for Bakes Cancer has encouraged restaurants, cafés, bakeries, pastry shops, grocery stores and other businesses offering desserts to designate one of their sweet treats during the weeklong event where 100 percent of the proceeds go to Bakes for Breast Cancer to fund breast cancer research. Participating establishments also have the opportunity to offer up their entire dessert roster where 50 percent of the proceeds goes back to the organization. During the past 26 years, Bakes for Breast Cancer has raised more than $2 million and more than 5,000 different establishments have participated in the annual weeklong event.

This year’s venues include:

-Bagel Mill Bakery & Cafe in Peterborough

-Big Dave’s Bagels & Deli in North Conway

-Red Arrow Diner in Nashua, Concord, Londonderry and Manchester

-The Stage Restaurant in Keene

“Since 1999, Bakes for Breast Cancer has been on a mission to do its part to help eradicate breast cancer for good, one sweet treat at a time,” said Sneider. “We are proud to keep expanding into different states and marquee cities, and we will continue to do so in areas with thriving culinary scenes with establishments that share the same mission as ours. Statistics on both women and men directly and indirectly affected by breast cancer are alarming, and we will continue to do our best to help reduce those numbers.”

According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, one in eight women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. In 2023, an estimated 297,790 women and 2,800 men will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women except for skin cancers, and it is estimated that in 2023, approximately 30 percent of all new female cancer diagnoses will be breast cancer. On average, every two minutes, a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States and approximately 15 percent of women diagnosed have a family history of breast cancer.