Peter Swalm spent four summers of his life working with ill and disabled children at Camp Barnabus near Purdy, Mo.

“After he went there, he realized there were kids who had it so much harder than he did,” Swalm’s mother, Jan Swalm, said this week. “It really changed his life.”

Peter Swalm was an 18-year-old student on his way to Lawrence High School on the morning of April 23, 2001, when he was killed in a car wreck.

Saturday, the first Peter Swalm Memorial Cookie Bake Off will be from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at St. Margaret’s Church, 5700 W. Sixth St. Proceeds will go to the Peter Swalm Memorial Trust Fund established to benefit Camp Barnabus.

About 30 people have signed up to bake cookies for the benefit. More people wanting to bake cookies must pre-register by calling Katie Bolt-Goeke at 842-5628. There is a $15 pre-registration fee. Those who want to attend and eat as many cookies as they want will pay a $5 “taster’s fee.”

“Peter was planning to be a chef — and he loved cookies,” Bolt-Goeke said. “This was something to do in memory of his life.”

Peter Swalm made his first trip to work at Camp Barnabus with a group from Grace Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 3312 Calvin Drive, Jan Swalm said. Many of the children who attend the camp suffer from cancer.

“He learned to be a servant and to do the right thing,” Jan Swalm said of her son.

The Swalm trust fund is a Kansas nonprofit organization.