Sandra Standefer, Loloi
Dallas, TX
Standefer, Loloi help kids get their childhood back
As president of the Dallas alumni chapter of Delta Delta Delta, Sandra Standefer has helped the city’s Cookies & Castles event take root.
Tri Delta Cookies & Castles – Dallas is a two-day gingerbread extravaganza that benefits the prosthetics department at Scottish Rite for Children, a Dallas-based specialized pediatric hospital. Each December, families and friends gather to decorate gingerbread houses and cookie men. Participants select delicious decorations from the “Candy Bar” filled with more than 5,000 pounds of sweet treats. The first day’s event is an annual Ladies Luncheon where decorating houses and cookies has become a treasured tradition for those who attend. The second day of gingerbread decorating is Cookies & Castles Family Day. This day is a true multigenerational event where parents and grandparents bring children of all ages to experience the magic of the season. Families can choose a morning or afternoon seating for this event. Both days include photos with Santa, raffle items and plenty of holiday music.
Standefer, Loloi’s director of textiles, has had a hand in the event since the Dallas chapter adopted it 14 years ago. She noted that since she joined Loloi seven years ago, the Dallas-based company has stepped up its participation and began sponsoring it six years back. During that time, Standefer has been the sponsor chair for Cookies & Castles for several years and chaired the entire event in 2015.
“The way we’ve grown our sponsorship is by doing private rooms. Loloi has been a Sugarplum sponsor and has a private room,” she said. “We host customers and employees in the room and have special guests like Olaf and Santa and dancing reindeer. The kids have a blast.”
“For all the wonderful things the dedicated doctors and medical professionals at Scottish Rite for Children do to support children and families in need, the annual Cookies & Castles fundraiser is near and dear to our hearts,” said Amir Loloi, founder and president of Loloi. “We are happy to donate money specifically targeted for the prosthetics department. As the hospital’s slogan says, Loloi wants to help give children their childhoods back.”
Standefer said the Ladies Luncheon is one of the most poignant parts of the event, as kids who have received prosthetics share their stories. She said many times, there isn’t a dry eye in the house by the time the children are finished speaking.
“Scottish Rite says they want to give children back their childhood no matter their ability to pay. The stories are so heartwarming and you see what goes into it,” Standefer said. “A child growing up with a limb deficiency will need 25 prostheses in their lifetime and each costs $15-$25,000 or more depending on how specialized they are.”
In 2020, with COVID-19 as the backdrop throughout the year, the Dallas chapter shifted its structure and turned Cookies & Castles into an at-home event. Families picked up materials via a drive-through set-up at Scottish Rite and then made their gingerbread creations from home and shared them digitally.
As conditions (hopefully) continue normalizing, Standefer is hopeful that this year’s Cookies & Castles can be truly special for a few key reasons.
“Scottish Rite is celebrating 100 years [this year],” Standefer said. “It’s near and dear to the Loloi’s heart and it’s near and dear to my heart as well.”