8-Foot-Tall Gingerbread House Gives Back in Downtown Rochester

If you're in downtown Rochester and smell gingerbread, chances are that smell is coming from the lobby of the Royal Park Hotel.

An 8-foot-tall gingerbread house, a holiday tradition in Rochester, was unveiled Wednesday morning. The house is made entirely from pastry ingredients: 220 cups of sugar, 300 pounds of gingerbread mix and 400 candy canes, for starters. 

Pastry chef Mark Slessor and his staff built the house. 

It's a creation that gives back: proceeds from "brick" certificates for the house support the Salvation Army's 2012 Red Kettle Campaign (for a minimum $10 donation, you can own a brick on the house, and the David W. Elliott Foundation will double-match each brick certificate that is sold.)

Proceeds from dessert sales at the hotel during the holiday season will also contribute to the campaign.

"If you are poor and it's Christmastime, you really know you're poor," said Herb Fuqua of the Salvation Army, which has a goal of $8.5 million for this year's Red Kettle Campaign. "We like to provide hope and want to make sure people don't give up." 

You can visit the gingerbread house throughout the holiday season in the hotel lobby. It is free to visit. 

For more about the Salvation Army and to donate, visit www.salmich.org.