Growing up in a rural community in France, Annabelle Ridge learned the importance of helping others.

During the holidays, she and her mother would make chocolate truffles and other delights and hand them out to local charities.

The tradition continued even after Ridge moved to Boston several years ago. Her mom traveled to Boston and the two baked cookies for area shelters.

And for the past few years, Ridge’s mother has traveled to her daughter’s current Seattle home, where they have baked thousands of cookies for the Rainier Valley Food Bank.

This year, Ridge’s mother could not join her daughter, but challenged her instead.

“I bet you can’t do 3,500 cookies,” she teased her daughter, who is a strategy director for Microsoft. Corp.

Not one to back down, Ridge sent out an e-mail to her fellow Microsoft employees and the community at large, asking for some helping hands.

“E-mails flew in,” Ridge said, noting that about 25 volunteers came to the Gallery Clubhouse in Kirkland last Sunday for her fourth annual Bake-athon event to benefit area food banks. In addition, others in the community donated cookies and supplies, including Hoffman’s Fine Pastries in Kirkland, which donated 100 cookies. “It’s so cool. The response and feedback from the community has been just great.”

By mid-afternoon last Sunday, Ridge and husband, Paul, had already been baking for 48 hours straight. The couple themselves baked 2,131 cookies over the weekend.

“How could you not help out with something so basic,” said event host, Kirkland resident Marcelo Lopez-Ruiz, as he packed the hand-decorated sugar cookies into plastic bags.

Sammamish resident Ramesh Yerramsetti worked alongside of Lopez-Ruiz.

“This is amazing,” said Yerramsetti, president of Northwest Share, a Seattle non-profit that feeds 30 individuals every evening. “We are recipients as well as donors.”

The cookies benefitted Northwest Share, as well as the Rainier Valley Food Bank and the south King County food bank for the holidays.

“We’re not solving world hunger, but we’re giving people that extra touch on the holidays,” said Ridge, who surpassed her goal – and her mother’s challenge – baking 3,733 cookies with the help of the community as of last Sunday afternoon. “It’s knowing that someone cared and thought about you.”