The annual "Bake and Take Month," occurring this March, invites home bakers of all ages to slow down, relax and embrace community spirit by baking home-made goodies and sharing them with friends, neighbors or folks who may not be able to bake themselves.

And if you participate in Bake and Take Month, you just might win a prize. This March, the Kansas Wheat Commission is teaming up with the Home Baking Association to promote Bake and Take Month. For more than 40 years, Bake and Take Month has been an opportunity to celebrate relationships with friends and family by baking and sharing treats.

The purpose of Bake and Take Month is to encourage participants to bake a product made from wheat and take it to a neighbor, friend or relative, says Cindy Falk, nutrition educator of Kansas Wheat and coordinator of Bake and Take Month.

"Bake and Take Month has a long tradition in Kansas as a promotion designed to educate consumers in the importance of home baking and wheat foods consumption," Falk says. "The personal visit to members of the community is as rewarding and important as the baked goods you take them."

Participants who share stories of the Bake and Take experience with the Kansas Wheat Commission by April 15, will be entered into a random drawing for a "Book Basket," featuring the Home Baking Association's popular "Baking with Friends" cookbook by Kansas authors Charlene Patton and Sharon Davis. Other books featured in the package include "Exploring Plants," a Kansas Crops Educator's Guide sponsored by the Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom; "Celebrate Wheat," a Kailey's Ag Adventure book from the Kansas Farm Bureau, and the Kansas Wheat Commission's "Kansas Gold," book, the 50-year history of the Kansas Wheat Commission complete with historical recipes.

Bake and Take Day began in 1970 as a community service project of the Kansas Wheathearts in Sumner County. The Kansas Wheathearts, an auxiliary organization of the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, set out to share baked goods with family members, friends, neighbors, and those in need, generating goodwill in the community. The idea of a community member sharing a favorite recipe with someone special became so successful that the Kansas Wheathearts created a national Bake and Take Day celebration in 1973. Even though the Kansas Wheathearts disbanded in 2001, the tradition continues to be supported by KWC and KAWG.

Last year, Seaman Food Service, Topeka, won the Bake and Take Month grand prize, for teaming up with Ms. Stewart's second grade class from Logan Elementary School in North Topeka to provide fresh-baked wheat rolls to a local senior center. The rolls were paired with a personalized card designed by the students to be used as bingo game prizes.

"Students made the rolls using whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour together, making the bread 51% whole wheat and learned about how yeast makes the dough rise," says Kaye Kabus, Seaman Food Service Director.

To be eligible for the "Book Basket" prize pack, participants of Bake and Take month should visit www.kansaswheat.org and under the "Consumers" section, click on Bake and Take Month for a brochure and entry form. For a hard copy of the entry form, write to Kansas Wheat, 1990 Kimball Ave., Manhattan, KS 66502.

Contest participants should include the following information: name, organization (4-H club, FCE, church group, etc.), phone number, mailing address, and a note describing the Bake and Take activity. Entries must be postmarked by Monday, April 15, 2013.