 As part of the Boston Christmas Festival, Boston Artisan Promotions partnered with housing families to host the 20th Annual Gingerbread House Competition. 16 restaurants and bakeries entered the competition in an event that turned the Seaport World Trade Center into a gingerbread village. We wanted to do something kids would love, so we did Little Mermaid, and then we wanted to do Christmasy and then Red Sox, so we threw some baseballs in there just to get the Boston concept in, and I don't know, it's tall, it's lit up, there's sugar work, it's a little bit of everything, so. The houses, on display for all of last weekend, were sold after the festival's completion, with the proceeds going entirely to housing families, whose mission is to end family homelessness one person at a time. Not all the homes we work with are as beautiful as the ones that are here, right? Some of them are pretty crumbly and they have some issues that need to be worked through. We're there to be able to help them do that. And in the spirit of the holidays where we have energy and laughter, where there's lived experiences being created in the home, we want to be able to make that possible for the over 4,000 families right now who are in emergency shelter. The event's winner was Beth Veneto from Gingerbetty's Bakery. However, despite the event's competition-based design, the participating chefs understood the importance of the event, and the reason why they spent countless hours working on the houses year after year. Absolutely, and that's why, like I said, I got my start doing this, but it's such a wonderful cause because so many people do go without, and this is just a nice way to help a different charity every year, so it's good to give back. The tradition of it and the giving, I think, and it allows us to be creative as well. Although only made from the symbol ingredients of bread, honey, ginger root, and molasses, these gingerbread houses serve as more than just sugary treats. They provide a glimpse of hope for families without homes, a problem that Housing Families is trying to solve this holiday season. For the BU News Service at the Seaport World Trade Center, I'm Nick Pict.