Cake4kids spreads the frosting around: Volunteer bakers mark special days

Volunteer Joan Coyne puts the icing on the cake for Jefferson County’s Cake4Kids project earlier this month. (Diane Urbani de la Paz/Peninsula Daily News)

Peninsula Daily News
By Diane Urbani de la Paz
Sunday, March 28, 2021 1:30am

PORT TOWNSEND — Last Sunday, Joan Coyne created a birthday cake — a tall, multicolored, exquisitely frosted layer cake — for a child she’s never met.

She kept this youngster’s age, gender, location and requested theme confidential. And Coyne, a teacher, would use her lunch hour one day last week to deliver the cake to the honoree.

“This gave me a chance to bake, which I love to do,” but wouldn’t do just for her small household, she said before wielding her piping bag.

Coyne is one of a kitchen army in East Jefferson County. These are the Cake4Kids volunteers: retired professional bakers and decorators and hobbyists. They bake for children, teenagers and young adults who live in homeless shelters or transitional housing or who are in the foster care system.

Volunteer Joan Coyne puts the icing on the cake for Jefferson County’s Cake4Kids project earlier this month. (Diane Urbani de la Paz/Peninsula Daily News)

“It is mind-blowing what these volunteer bakers can do,” said Cynthia Castro Sweet, founder of the local Cake4Kids chapter. Hers is the first Washington state group to become part of the nationwide organization.

As elaborate as the cakes are, Sweet keeps the delivery process simple. Working with agencies including Dove House of Jefferson County and Bayside Housing Services as well as local schools, “it’s a two-conversation process,” she said.

A young person has a special day coming up: graduation, a birthday, anything deserving a celebration. This person also has a particular passion about something, which provides the theme for the cake.

The social services agency acts as the connector, providing the volunteer baker with that theme and the delivery date and address.

“Our goal is to lighten the burden,” said Sweet, adding Cake4Kids serves young people age 1 to 24 by way of their schools or social service providers.

And while she has about two dozen volunteer bakers — plenty for now — Sweet hopes to connect with more agencies.

Interested organizations can reach her via www.cake4kids.org/our-chapters-jefferson, on the Cake4kids East Jefferson County Facebook page, at cynthia@cake4kids.org, or at 206-580-3766.

Since the chapter’s launch in September, volunteers have constructed cakes with a universe of themes: “Alice in Wonderland,” TikTok social media, nature, unicorns, pandas and other animals. Bakers have scrutinized YouTube videos and called on their creative powers, Sweet said, to rise to each occasion.

“Another thing we do is we support agencies when they’re doing events for all of their families,” for holidays such as Halloween, she added.

Maggie Smith of Port Ludlow took on the TikTok-theme cake, though she was unfamiliar with the social networking platform and its speedy dance and comedy videos. She did copious research, found dozens of TikTok cake demonstrations online and baked two mock-ups to practice.

“My neighbors ate a lot of cake. It was really fun,” Smith said, adding it was also a bit stressful. A veteran of 30 years as a school nurse, she wanted to do something outside her comfort zone, and that TikTok adventure brought her up to speed culturally, she said. Smith wants to broaden her skill set further, so she’s added gluten free cake to her repertoire.

Greer Gates, development director at Bayside Housing Services, witnessed a Cake4Kids-fed celebration earlier this year. Bayside’s transitional housing complex in Port Hadlock has several youngsters in its care, and cakes make a major impact, she said.

“While I don’t know the exact volunteer who baked our first cake as a Cake4Kids partner, they knocked it out of the park,” Gates recalled.

“It is so, so important for these kids to feel the excitement and celebration of big days, despite being in some very tough situations. There is something very fundamental to a child’s development of being celebrated and feeling seen, and Cakes4Kids really acknowledges that.”

At Dove House, program manager Pat Jaap said the cake-baking team made the experience a carefree one.

“Many of our clients cannot afford to have birthday parties for their children. Between Cake4Kids and Dove House, we take that burden off Mom. She gets to celebrate,” Jaap said, adding client confidentiality is paramount throughout. “Cake4Kids respects and understands this,” she noted.

“I don’t want there to be a lot of bureaucracy,” Sweet added.

A cake, anonymously baked, frosted and delivered, is her kind of gift.

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Cake4Kids Monterey in the Monterey County Weekly's Daily Newsletter

Monterey County Weekly - Daily Newsletter
By Celia Jiménez
Monday, February 22, 2021

Birthday cakes can create indelible memories.

Good afternoon. 

Celia Jiménez here, remembering the look on my niece Vivian’s overjoyed face when she blew out the candles on her birthday cake at her 2nd birthday party. She loved it so much, the first song she sang was Happy Birthday (when her vocabulary wasn’t more than a few words). She also had the cutest ending: a ffffff (the sound of blowing out candles). Vivian’s parents could afford to buy her a birthday cake, but there are many other parents who can’t. 

Cake4Kids Monterey is here to change that—making sure kids in the county have a cake to celebrate their birthday. Professional and home bakers volunteer to prepare personalized cakes, cupcakes and other treats for families who can’t afford them. 

Despite making those tasty pastries, volunteers don’t have direct contact with the families that request treats, so they don’t get to see children’s reactions firsthand. But Julie Altman, wraparound program director at Kinship Center, a nonprofit child welfare agency, does. It’s her job to deliver the treats to the families. “It makes me feel so lucky to be able to brighten somebody’s day,” she says.

Although a cake doesn't offer much nutritional value, it lifts families up. “It’s just the right thing to add to their day.” Altman has delivered at least six cakes, cupcakes for three graduations and several holiday treats to about 20 families that have received the baked goods with appreciation and smiles on their faces. 

She says Kinship Center got an email when Cake4Kids started locally, and they decided to get involved. “We were eager right away to take advantage of the opportunity to make some events for the families we work with a little more special,” she says. 

Altman says the bakers go above and beyond, making the cakes and treats look outstanding and helping families to feel special.

I think singing “Happy Birthday” was a milestone in Vivian’s life. Probably because at that moment, on her 2nd birthday, she felt loved. She felt special in the way that children should feel, particularly on their birthdays. 

If you would like to contribute or become a volunteer baker, check out Cake4Kids Monterey.

-Celia Jiménez, staff writer, celia@mcweekly.com

A team of volunteer bakers aims to ensure no kid goes without a birthday cake

Jennifer Ibarra (above) launched the local chapter of Cake4Kids during the pandemic. Bakers buy the ingredients and they bake and deliver birthday cakes for kids in need. (Joel Angel Juarez)

Monterey County Weekly
By Celia Jiménez
Saturday, February 13, 2021

One of the main stars at a child’s birthday party – besides the birthday kid, of course – is the cake. Seeing a child smile and the spark of joy in their eyes while they are thinking about a wish and blowing out the candles is a memory-making event.

Now a local nonprofit organization is working to make sure every kid in Monterey County has a cake on their special day, regardless of the family’s ability to pay.

Cake4Kids Monterey has been active in the county for less than six months, but the organization has been active across the country since 2010. They make custom cakes and treats for kids whose families can’t afford them. The children are from low-income families and may not have parents in their home. The family may be homeless or the child might be in foster care.

The Monterey chapter started in October when Salinas resident Jennifer Ibarra was looking for a way to volunteer after many places were shut down because of Covid-19. She came across Cake4kids and says she was excited about it because it mixes her two favorite things – kids and baking.

When she found out the nearest chapter was in San Jose, she decided to start her own. After being approved, she began reaching out via social media to various community groups across the county. Her posts were shared and re-shared and the local chapter of Cake4Kids now has about 50 volunteer bakers, ranging from amateurs to professionals.

Kids can choose the flavor and theme. And even if they don’t want a cake, they can ask for other treats like cookies or cupcakes. Cake4Kids also makes treats for the holidays, including Christmas and Valentine’s Day.

But just as baking is a creative endeavor, the volunteer bakers have to imagine the happy smiles of the recipients. For safety and privacy reasons, the bakers never meet the children who receive the cakes.

All orders have to be made through an established organization. The nonprofit is working with groups including The Kinship Center, Rancho Cielo and some school districts.

Any baker who is at least 16 years old, regardless of their level of experience, can get involved. “The most important requirement is having a big heart,” Ibarra says. Those under 18 can participate in a parent-teen team. Volunteers have to attend an online orientation and bakers have to be able to bake, decorate and deliver the cakes. Each volunteer goes to an online portal, where they pick the orders they want to make. Once they are done, they deliver the finished product to the agency that placed the order.

Toula Hubbard found out about the organization after seeing Ibarra’s Facebook request for volunteers. Hubbard’s 17-year-old daughter Thalia signed up. Hubbard is not a professional baker but has learned how to make cakes from scratch. Thalia is practicing what she learned at a culinary class she took at Pacific Grove High School.

For Hubbard, it is more about doing something special for the kids, but it’s been a good excuse to learn how to bake. Sometimes when she sees the orders, she thinks about the recipient. “I think, ‘what does this child like? Are they afraid to ask for what they want? Are they afraid if they ask for too much it won’t be provided to them?’”

Hubbard says baking for Cake4Kids has created a stronger bond with her daughter. “Having the chance to talk to her,” she says, “there is no technology, there’s nothing to distract us.”

Amy Verduzco loves celebrating her birthday and she thinks getting a birthday cake can make a big difference in a kid’s life. The self-taught pastry chef currently works at Monterey Plaza Hotel’s pastry department. Due to Covid-19, her hours were reduced drastically – from 40 to eight hours a week – and she’s spending her free time baking birthday cakes. “It really makes me feel a little better over all the bad things that are happening,” she says.

The first cake was delivered Nov. 2, and demand is growing. Cake4Kids has baked nearly 100 orders and has received almost 40 orders this month alone. With rising demand, Ibarra says they are in need of donations and volunteers. Many families are struggling to keep afloat during the pandemic and Ibarra says it’s more important than ever to bring smiles to kids.

To contribute or become a volunteer baker, visit cake4kids.org/our-chapters-monterey

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Jenna previews Cake4Kids cookie care packages

KMPH Fox 26
By Stephen Hawkins
Wednesday, February 10, 2021

FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) — In honor of Random Acts of Kindness Week, February 15-19, donations to Cake4Kids Fresno through February 12 will be paid forward with baked treats for those working on the front lines.

Cake4Kids will be delivering cookies to Clovis Community Medical Center, Community Regional Medical Center, Clovis PD, Fresno PD, local fire stations, and others.

• $20 donation for 1 dozen cookies

• $30 donation for 2 dozen cookies

Cake4Kids also has Cookie Care Package sponsorships available for businesses.

Click here to learn more about Cake4Kids.

Watch the video here.

Cake4Kids bakes extra special birthday cakes for Connecticut kids in need

WTNH News 8
By Alyssa Taglia
Wednesday, January 20, 2021 06:47 am Eastern | Updated: January 20, 11:30 am Eastern

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Think back to your birthday as a kid. You’re surrounded by family, friends, presents, and of course, birthday cake.

Now, imagine not being able to blow out your candles and make that special birthday wish. Unfortunately, that’s the reality for many children.

That’s why one Wethersfield woman has made it her mission to make sure kids in need get an extra special birthday cake.

Jaclyn Dougan helped bring Cake4Kids to Connecticut. The national organization, which was founded in California back in 2010, bakes and delivers birthday treats to underserved children on their special day.

“It just shows them that someone is thinking about them,” Dougan said. “They get to request whatever kind of cake they want.”

The cakes are even delivered to group homes, domestic violence shelters and homeless shelters.

In November 2020, Cake4Kids made its way to Connecticut, rolling out in Hartford. Dougan now heads the local chapter.

“It’s definitely very rewarding. Just a reminder that sometimes it’s the simple things in life that we kind of take for granted.”

She and her fellow volunteers bake in their own kitchens and personalize each cake with a whole lot of love.

“We just want to make sure that child is getting a cake that’s individual to them on their special day. My wish for them is that we can expand throughout Connecticut and serve all of those kids.”

More information about volunteering or donating can be found online.

If the video above doesn’t work, you can watch the segment here.

Cake4Kids Comes to CT: Giving Birthday Cakes to Foster Children and At-Risk Youth

NBC Connecticut
By Angela Fortuna
Thursday, January 14, 2021 | Updated January 14

What started as a gesture to provide birthday cakes to some foster children and at-risk youth has turned into something the creator could never have imagined.

It all started in Sunnyvale, California when Libby Gruender read an article about a young girl in foster care who received her first-ever birthday cake. After hearing about this, Libby made it her goal to make sure the children in her community had cakes to celebrate their birthdays.

What Libby started in 2010 as an effort with very few volunteers baking 13 cakes for a few agencies turned into a huge operation that now has hundreds of volunteers.

Cake4Kids is now baking over 3,000 cakes a year for over 140 agencies.

Kids can even submit their own requests on what they want their birthday cake to look like.

The people who bake these cakes never get to meet the kids because of privacy concerns. Rather, they deliver cakes to caseworkers.

"Me baking something that they personally want for their birthday cake is just such a rewarding experience," Cake4Kids social media coordinator and volunteer baker Malissa Tibbling said.

Connecticut's Cake4Kids branch started about a year ago when a local family decided to expand from California's chapter and move here.

It started when the parents of this family were stressed out about their kid's upcoming birthday. They couldn't afford a cake, so they started looking for local resources to help, but couldn't find any in Connecticut.

That is when they found Cake4Kids in California and saw they were looking to expand, so she reached out to them and started the process to open up a chapter here in Connecticut.

So far, 32 cakes have been made to date with a lot more requests lined up.

"A lot of the times, the kids and parents are blown away by how the cake looks. Some of our volunteer bakers do an incredible job, just as a hobby, the cakes come out looking like they are professionally done," CT Cake4Kids Ambassador Jaclyn Dougan said.

Libby passed away in 2013 and Cake4Kids says they're not only keeping her mission going but every year, they recruit new volunteers, partner with more agencies and provide more and more children with birthday cakes for their special day.

In the times of COVID-19, the operation has had to adjust. With volunteers getting sick, others volunteered to pick up cake requests and the whole thing has been a huge team effort. There have even been contactless deliveries to keep everyone safe.

Volunteers say the effort is certainly a rewarding experience.

"It's definitely a rewarding experience, it's great to let those kids know that someone is thinking about them on their special day," Dougan said.

Cake4Kids is always looking for volunteers. To find out how you can help, visit their website.

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Volunteers launch Connecticut Cake4Kids branch to bake personalized birthday cakes for kids in foster care, group homes, shelters

Cake4Kids is a national nonprofit organization whose volunteers bake decorated, personalized birthday cakes for kids in foster care, group homes, homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters and other unstable living situations. (Courtesy Cake4Kids)

Hartford Courant
By Susan Dunne
Monday, January 11, 2021 7:57 am

When Jaclyn Dougan, a family advocate with Middlesex Health in Middletown, met with one of her regular families last year, the kids were excited that a birthday was coming up. But the mom was stressed, because she couldn’t afford a birthday cake.

“In a program I work in, we can’t bake or give anything like that. So I started to look at other resources available for this, which is something a lot of our families face,” Dougan said.

Dougan discovered Cake4Kids, a California-based nonprofit whose volunteers bake and decorate birthday cakes for kids in foster care, group homes, homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters and other refuges from unstable living situations.

Dougan is now the ambassador in the newly opened Connecticut chapter of Cake4Kids. In addition to running the chapter, she coordinates a team of 34 volunteer bakers, including herself.

“Baking is a hobby of mine. It’s great to bake with a cause,” said Dougan, who lives in Wethersfield.

Since opening on Nov. 12, Dougan’s branch has donated 35 cakes to children, whom they find through their case workers.

For now, the Connecticut chapter serves just Hartford County. Dougan said she hopes to expand to other counties, if she gets enough volunteers and organizational partners. “New Haven County is next on our list,” she said. The coronavirus pandemic has slowed the expansion, she said, but it is still moving forward.

Cake4Kids is a national nonprofit organization whose volunteers bake decorated, personalized birthday cakes for kids in foster care, group homes, homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters and other unstable living situations. Each cake has the child's name and is decorated with the child's hobbies and interests. (Courtesy Cake4Kids)

Alison Bakewell, director of operations for the Cake4Kids national office, said for kids with tumultuous lives, a birthday cake is more than just a birthday cake.

“It really builds self-esteem and makes the youth feel special, knowing that a complete stranger went out of their way to make something especially for them, something that they requested,” Bakewell said. “We hear over and over again from youth, especially teens, that it is their first birthday cake ever.”

NAFI CT, a human services agency, is a founding partner in the Cake4Kids Connecticut branch. NAFI CT Director of Operations Amy Lefebvre said kids with stressful childhoods don’t take birthdays for granted.

“Every kid should celebrate birthdays. They’re important. But sometimes they don’t feel they are important,” Lefebvre said. “The difference a cake on their birthday makes is amazing, especially when the cake is all about that kid. We always ensure the kid’s name is on the cake.”

When NAFI arranges cakes for youths, each recipient gives their favorite flavors and hobbies. “We find out if she is into unicorns or LEGO or SpongeBob or ‘Blue’s Clues,’ if she likes chocolate,” Lefebvre said. “When the cakes come, the kids are just thrilled.”

Due to privacy concerns, bakers never meet the kids. They deliver cakes to case workers. Bakewell — who, despite her perfect name, does not bake for Cake4Kids — said the cakes help case workers, too.

“So many of these youth didn’t have the best start in life, get moved from home to home and don’t trust adults. This can make it difficult for the case worker to build trust,” she said. “When a case worker asks what kind of cake they want and then delivers it … it can create a bond and build trust.”

Bakewell said since the nonprofit was founded 10 years ago, 23,744 cakes have been delivered in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Virginia, Washington and Washington D.C. New branches are expected to open this year in Massachusetts, Idaho, Kansas and Georgia, she said.

Cakes must be decorated to the child’s request. Dougan said formal decorating skills are welcome but not mandatory.

“You don’t have to be a professional baker by any means. There are a lot of different ways you can decorate. You may not have the technical skills to do piping, but you can use edible paper or toys to cover the cake, or candy melts. It’s actually amazing how many ways there are to make amazing-looking cakes,” she said.

To donate or to discuss partnering with the Connecticut chapter, email jaclyn@cake4kids.org. To volunteer as a baker, visit cake4kids.org/volunteer.

Susan Dunne can be reached at sdunne@courant.com.

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NAFI CT Teams Up With Cake4Kids to Spark Some Smiles

NAFI CT
Monday, December 21, 2020

The young women in NAFI Connecticut’s residential programs at the Touchstone Campus in Litchfield are writing a recipe for finding new sweetness in life by brightening the lives of other youth facing challenges.

As part of NAFI CT’s partnership with the new Connecticut chapter of the national nonprofit Cake4Kids, the young women at Touchstone hope to transition from being recipients of Cake4Kids sweet deliveries to joining the corps of volunteer bakers who make cakes, cupcakes, and more for youth in foster care, group homes and other settings.

Touchstone, where services address the unique needs of adolescent females involved in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems, is home to the Touchstone Program and the DBT Group Home (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) program.

“We had a student council meeting and introduced Cake4Kids to the girls,” explained Freddy Mendez, the Program Director for Touchstone, which currently has eight young women.

They requested Thanksgiving-themed cupcakes from the Cake4Kids Connecticut chapter, which officially launched in mid-November.

“The kids loved the cupcakes,” Freddy said, describing the long-term goal of turning the equation around to have the young women become Cake4Kids bakers as part a baking group activity at Touchstone.

“They’re really excited about that,” Freddy said, adding of the partnership between NAFI and Cake4Kids, “It was really sweet that they did this. This is awesome.”

Cake4Kids was founded in 2010 to provide free birthday cakes to foster children and at-risk youth in the San Francisco Bay Area. What began as a grassroots efforts with a few volunteers has grown tremendously and now includes chapters in seven states and Washington, D.C., including eight chapters in California.

The Cake4Kids recipe is simple, the results are delicious, and the pay-it-forward positive energy that comes from youth who face challenges knowing someone cares enough to bake a personalized cake for them is priceless.

Launched by the late Libby Gruender after she read story about a girl in foster care in the Midwest receiving her first birthday cake, Cake4Kids partners with agencies that support at-risk or underserved youth in settings that also include homeless shelters, transitional and low income housing, domestic violence or human trafficking shelters, and substance abuse programs.

Each chapter of Cake4Kids has a community ambassador who does all the local groundwork, finds partners, recruits volunteer bakers, and oversees orientation efforts before the baking begins.

“All of our bakers are volunteer at-home bakers and they range in skill levels, so it can go from a nice looking homemade cake all the way up to ‘I can’t believe that’s a cake,’” explained Alison Bakewell, Director of Operations for Cake4Kids.

“Many of these ladies and gentlemen are hobby bakers and they are amazingly talented, and we do have some professional bakers who are giving back among our 3,200 volunteers,” she said.

Jaclyn Dougan, a Family Advocate and Home Visitor for Middlesex Health, is the community ambassador for the Connecticut chapter.

“When she came across Cake4Kids, she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get involved by pairing her passion for helping children and families with her favorite hobby,” said a Facebook post announcing the chapter.

It was a specific experience that began Jaclyn’s journey toward establishing a Cake4Kids chapter. At Middlesex Health she was working with a family experiencing difficulties and unable to afford a cake for a child’s upcoming birthday.

She began looking for resources to help in Connecticut, found Cake4Kids in California, and reached out to Julie Eades, the organization’s executive director, about a year ago.

The Connecticut’s chapter’s official first orientation was Nov. 12, and it’s already a thriving effort with 21 volunteer bakers on board and more reaching out to join.

“We have made quite a few cakes,” Jaclyn said, noting that the chapter has 12 cake requests for Dec. 23, and stressing that there are many other supporting roles for potential volunteers who love what Cake4Kids is doing but don’t bake.

Watch the NBC Connecticut video on the new Cake4Kids chapter

Requests for cakes come in from the partners of each Cake4Kids chapter, which in Connecticut are NAFI CT and the Compass Youth Collaborative so far, as well as from other agencies and service providers.

“They put in a request for the youth, specifying a cake, cupcakes, cookie bars or brownies, as well as flavor and theme, etc.,” Alison explained. The request is posted on the chapter’s portal for the volunteers to review and see who wants the assignment.

When the cakes get delivered, that’s when the magic happens.

“It’s really more than just a birthday cake,” Alison said. “These kids have had a lot of challenges in their lives. A lot of times people let them down. Foster kids can be moved around. They just don’t have the best start in their lives. They can’t believe that someone who doesn’t even know them has taken time out of their day to make them a birthday cake. It boosts their confidence.”

“The thing we really want people to know is we’re making an impact on the youth by showing them there’s someone who cares,” Alison added, noting that Cake4Kids also provides a boost for caseworkers. “When they say I’m bringing a cake and show up with it and it’s an awesome cake, it builds trusts. So when they have other issues to work on it’s a lot easier.”

“There’s one more benefit, and I’m saying it as a baker. It feels amazing to drop off a cake and know that you’re going to make a child’s day extra special,” Alison said.

Cake4Kids currently operates in California, Washington, Colorado, Connecticut, Kentucky, Illinois, Virginia and the Washington, D.C. metro area.

“This March, right before we had to shut down for COVID, we delivered our 20,000th cake,” Alison said. “December will be biggest month ever, over 900 cakes, even though we’re only operating at about 70 percent because of COVID. At normal pace, we would have made 7,000 cakes this year.”

For more information on Cake4Kids Connecticut chapter, see the website, and explore opportunities to volunteer.

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TheatreWorksSV Simple Gifts Community Spotlight: Cake4Kids

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley
Friday, December 18, 2020

LEARN MORE → theatreworks.org/simplegifts 🕯 Throughout the run of SIMPLE GIFTS, join us as we highlight organizations in our community that provide simple gifts all year long with their incredible work. In this episode, TheatreWorks' Director of Community Partnerships Jeffrey Lo speaks to Cake 4 Kids Executive Director Julie Eades!

If the video above doesn’t work, you can watch the segment here.

Cake4Kids Makes Sure Kids Have Birthday Cakes

NBC Connecticut
Sunday, December 13, 2020, 6:37 pm

Watch Cake4Kids Connecticut Ambassador, Jaclyn Dougan, talk to NBC Connecticut about the newest Cake4Kids chapter in Connecticut!

If the video above doesn’t work, you can watch the segment here.

Sweet Memories

Posh Seven
By Betsy Trainor
Tuesday, November 17, 2020

In this busy modern world of social media and constant snap moments, we sometimes forget how profound small gestures such as a birthday cake can make in a child’s life. When I was young, my best friend lived in an old home with a single mom. They struggled every day to make ends meet. On her 10th birthday, her mom had a Big Bird cake made at a local bakery. All these years later, I can still see the bright yellow frosting feathers and his candy stick legs with a shiny orange beak. I’m sure it was a huge sacrifice for her mom to buy that cake. A volunteer organization called Cake4Kids.org recognized the importance of making milestones like this important for all children. They bake and deliver birthday cakes for underserved kids. The children may be in group homes, at a domestic violence or human trafficking shelter, in low-income housing with or without a parent, or even homeless. The organization’s goal is to raise a child’s self-esteem and confidence with a cake on their special day. A local woman named Mary Campbell took it upon herself to bring Cake4Kids.org to Northern Virginia.

BT: Mary, how did you first hear about Cake4Kids.org?

MC: One night I read articles online about constructive things to do with your time once your children have left the nest. I have two wonderful sons, one in college and one in high school, so I knew I wanted to begin planning how I could dedicate some of my time doing something that would make a difference in a child’s life. I saw an online post about a woman making birthday cakes for foster kids, and she mentioned Cake4Kids.org. After some research, I decided that I wanted to get involved. Unfortunately, I discovered that the organization was only active in California. So, I reached out to them and pitched the idea of coming to Northern Virginia soon after I became an Ambassador for Cake4Kids.org!

What makes this simple gift so very special?

MC: I can still vividly recall some of the cakes that my mom lovingly made for me when I was a child. I remember my wonder and excitement when I saw every one of them. When my sons were young, I did the same thing for them, and their faces would light up when I would present them with the cakes. It’s a small moment in life, but it can be almost magical for children. When I learned that so many kids don’t receive cakes on their birthdays, I was really upset and wanted to do something for those children. I felt that they should have the same special feeling on their birthdays that I had on mine, and my sons had on theirs.

How many active volunteer bakers do you have supporting you now?

MC: We currently have about 100 volunteer bakers. The volunteers bake and decorate the cakes, and then the cake is transferred to the sponsoring organization supporting or assisting the child. That organization then makes sure the cake reaches the child for a special event or occasion. It softens some of life’s challenging moments by bringing a thoughtful, personalized gift to a deserving child.

What communities do you serve in the Northern Virginia area?

In this busy modern world of social media and constant snap moments, we sometimes forget how profound small gestures such as a birthday cake can make in a child’s life. When I was young, my best friend lived in an old home with a single mom. They struggled every day to make ends meet. On her 10th birthday, her mom had a Big Bird cake made at a local bakery. All these years later, I can still see the bright yellow frosting feathers and his candy stick legs with a shiny orange beak. I’m sure it was a huge sacrifice for her mom to buy that cake. A volunteer organization called Cake4Kids.org recognized the importance of making milestones like this important for all children. They bake and deliver birthday cakes for underserved kids. The children may be in group homes, at a domestic violence or human trafficking shelter, in low-income housing with or without a parent, or even homeless. The organization’s goal is to raise a child’s self-esteem and confidence with a cake on their special day. A local woman named Mary Campbell took it upon herself to bring Cake4Kids.org to Northern Virginia.

Can you share a special cake delivery moment that stands out?

MC: An agency informed us that a mom desperately wanted a Fortnite themed cake for her son. Her choices were to either pay her phone bill or get him a special birthday cake. The agency counselor contacted me, and we got to work on it right away. Usually, we need a two-week window to find a volunteer and guarantee cake delivery, but we have emergency bakers who step in with last-minute requests. One of our emergency bakers took this order on and delivered a beautiful cake. It may sound small, but the memory was significant. It was lasting. I am confident of that.

Featuring:
Mary Campbell, Ambassador of the Northern Virginia Chapter of Cake4Kids.org

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New Nonprofit Chapter Bakes Up Joy for Kids

Cake4Kids now has a Loudoun chapter to make cakes for children in need.

Uplift Loudoun
By Lia Hobel
Thursday, October 8, 2020

Birthday cakes are something that many of us take for granted. Unfortunately, there are children who have never experienced the joy of a birthday cake on their special day.

A newly launched nonprofit chapter is working hard to change this.

Cake4Kids opened a Loudoun chapter in August. The mission of Cake4Kids is to raise the self-esteem and confidence of these children by delivering a cake to them on their special day.

Dottie Swanson is the ambassador of the new Loudoun Chapter. She began as a volunteer baker with a Northern Virginia chapter and knew she wanted to do more.

Dottie Swanson is the ambassador of the Cake4Kids Loudoun chapter.

“It saddened me that there are children who have never received a birthday cake,” she said.

For Swanson, cake baking provides the best of both worlds. “Combining my love of baking with giving back to underserved youth could not have been a better match.”

She said she can recall the feeling of her very first delivered cake and the joy she felt. “It was an anonymous, selfless act that brought me so much happiness knowing I made a child happy.”

Each cake is a one-of-a kind creation made by volunteers at no cost. Bakers of all skill levels are welcome to volunteer.  “I love the creativity of the cake requests from the children – anything from sports to superheroes to unique requests for a dragon with teal flowers,” she said.

Swanson continues to work full-time for MuleSoft, a Salesforce Company, as a delivery director leading system integration programs. She said her work experience pairs well with baking.

“With my STEM background, I get to combine my love of math and science through recipes with my artistic skills involved in decorating and designing each cake” she said.

Become a cake baker

Currently, there are 17 volunteer bakers with the Loudoun Chapter. Anyone can submit to be a volunteer on the website or simply donate to the chapter to support its mission.

As of now, the chapter works with a few local-youth agencies. The chapter would like to expand partnerships to deliver custom cakes to underserved children in Loudoun.

Interested agencies are encouraged to contact Dottie by email: dottie@cake4kids.org.

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A Sweet start: Volunteer bakers make sure no child has cake-less birthday

Cynthia Castro Sweet, founder of the first Washington branch of Cake4Kids, and several of the tasty creations she has made for the nonprofit, is seeking volunteer bakers in Jefferson County.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CYNTHIA CASTRO SWEET

The Leader
By Luciano Marano
Sunday, September 27, 2020 at 8:00 am

Calling all culinary artisans: Unthinkably, it seems there are kids whose birthdays are bereft of cake.

Quickly, to the kitchen!

Yes, even more unthinkable than Paul Hollywood tolerating soggy-bottomed pastries on “The Great British Bake Off” is the thought of a child who has never known a birthday cake. And it was just such a sad story that inspired Cynthia Castro Sweet to sign on as a volunteer baker for the nonprofit Cake4Kids, which provides at-risk and underprivileged kids with customized and personalized sweet treats on their big day.

“Most people, if they think back to their childhood and they think about their birthdays, you probably remember some of your birthday cakes,” Sweet said.

“Maybe you don’t remember who was at your party or what games you played, but the cake tends to have symbolism for people,” she said. “So that’s what we’re trying to do, give these children a really happy memory during a time when that may be harder to come by.”

Sweet first started baking for  Cake4Kids while living in California. After relocating to Chimacum, Sweet, the aptly named charitable culinarian, founded the organization’s first Washington branch right here in Jefferson County and is now seeking volunteer bakers willing and able to craft a good cake for a great cause. 

Cake4Kids boasts hundreds of volunteers who belong to various chapters across the country. They bake about 3,000 cakes every year.

Jefferson County’s chapter will serve Quilcene to Port Townsend. Bakers must be 18 years or older, Sweet said, have reasonable baking and decorating skills and personal transportation so they can deliver cakes.

There is no minimum commitment, she explained. Volunteers bake what they can, when they can. Some bake once a month, others just once or twice a year.

“We do get messages back saying the child loved it or the family really enjoyed it; they had a great party and thank you so much,” Sweet said. “It alleviates a burden on the families, too. Especially in times like these, people are a little more strained economically and it helps to take some of the pressure off.”

Sweet said Cake4Kids works agency-to-agency, with requests for cakes coming via social service organizations or government agencies.

“If they are interested in participating they basically have a representative who gets access to an online portal so they can put in their request,” she explained. “The bakers go in and they look through all the different requests that are open and pick one that they’re able to fulfill.

“We try to keep it a simple, streamlined process and not overburden it with too much bureaucracy because it’s supposed to be a simple but powerful gesture.”

Currently, the new branch is seeking volunteers and plans to begin accepting requests soon.

“We’re doing all of our training of our [initial] volunteers this month and then we’re going to launch in early October for our first requests,” Sweet said.

“There is quite a range [of skills] and we just ask the bakers have a basic confidence in their baking ability and their decorating ability — they’re not required to operate at a professional level by any stretch of the imagination.”

Sweet recalls her own proudest culinary accomplishment: a three-tiered construction based on the Disney movie “Moana,” complete with characters and icing waterfall.

“For a lot of people, cooking and baking is therapeutic,” Sweet said. “It gives us something to do, for sure. It’s also a way of people stretching their abilities, taking on new challenges and kind of pushing themselves to learn new things.”

COVID-19 has, of course, complicated things a bit. But Sweet said Cake4Kids already operated with minimal personal interaction, so the adjustments — contactless delivery, specific drop-off locations, etc. — were relatively simple.

“The nice thing about birthday cakes and most baked goods is they’re pretty safe in terms of their stability. And we do have regulations around the kinds of ingredients people can put in their cakes so they do stay what we call ‘shelf-stable’ and they’re not prone to spoilage,” she said.

Also, the requester can specify any allergies or preferences regarding the inclusion of gluten, dairy, and other ingredients.

More information and volunteer registration is available online at www.cake4kids.org. Sweet is also available to answer questions (cynthia@cake4kids.org or 206-580-3766).

Sweet said she’s excited to bring the program which has brought her so much joy to her new home.

The importance of such things as birthday cakes, she said, while seemingly trivial, can greatly enrich lives.

“The thing that hooked me when I was a volunteer and I went to my orientation session, they read a thank-you letter from a recipient of a cake and it was a teenager. I think they were 18 at the time, and it was the first year they’d ever had a birthday cake,” Sweet recalled.

“And I’m thinking, ‘Wow, if I never got a cake before I was 18’ — I have no concept of what that’s like! And it made such an impression on this 18-year-old. So when you think about that and think about what you’re used to, your own expectations around birthdays — you get a sense of how different it can be for other people.

“That really hits home,” she said.

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The Power of Cake

The Stanford Daily
By Kiana George
August 27, 2020

Let’s talk about cake. Cake is the product of layering cooked batter, moist frosting and varying toppings. It comes in every flavor imaginable — something as simple as dark chocolate fudge to something as strange as sweet olive oil. But cake is much more than just a dessert — it evokes a level of joy no other food can.

Think about it. On every happy occasion, there is always cake. On your birthday, there’s cake. At your wedding, there’s cake. On holidays, there’s cake. And on your graduation — you guessed it — there’s cake.

Cake is a lot more powerful than many of us know. So this summer, I decided to take advantage of that.

Mid-quarantine, I stumbled across the opportunity to be a part of Cake4kids. It was everything I could dream about: it combined both my love for baking and helping others in one package.

Cake4Kids is a program that serves at-risk youth, ages 1-24, including kids in group homes, foster care, homeless shelters, domestic violence or human trafficking shelters, low-income housing, substance abuse programs or refugees.

Currently, there are 400,000 kids in foster care. One child out of every 30 is homeless. 15.5 million children live in a home where domestic violence has occurred at least once in the past year. Human trafficking is the second largest international crime industry, worth $32 billion annually.

Cake4Kids bakes cakes, cupcakes, brownies and other treats to raise the esteem of kids who face these challenges daily. 

Now, you might be thinking: how is a cake going to help?

Well, a cake isn’t necessarily going to solve these problems, but it can give these kids a glimpse of hope in a world that they’ve only known to be cruel.

When I attended the Cake4Kids meeting, the coordinators went over the program instructions and rules. One of the coordinators described a story of giving a little girl a cake and the girl immediately running up to her foster mom crying. The coordinator was shocked and went up to the little girl, asking if there was something wrong with cake. The coordinator offered to change the color of the cake or even to redo it. The little girl then explained that she was crying happy tears because she was so overwhelmed — she had never had a cake on her birthday before.

Stories like these show how special and loved a cake can make a kid feel. When I became a volunteer, I wanted to do what that coordinator had done — I wanted to make kids feel worthy and cared for with my cakes.

In the Cake4Kids program, you have to be 18 years old to decorate cakes by yourself, and 16 years old to be a parent-teen team. Since I am 16, I decided to team up with my mom, who has created recipes for Food52 and entered Pillsbury baking contests all her life.

As a volunteer, you are responsible for signing up to make a cake, making the kid’s desired cake flavor, decorating the cake according to the kid’s wishes, delivering the cake to the social workers partnered with Cake4Kids and writing an email about your experience baking the cake to the coordinators.

To keep each kid’s personal information and identity anonymous, bakers don’t get any feedback on how the kid liked the cake unless the parent or social worker is comfortable providing it.

Below are several of my personal experiences with Cake4kids baking over the summer.

June 8:

Since this was my and my mom’s first-ever Cake4Kids project, we signed up to make Dragon Ball Z–themed brownies for a boy. To make it abundantly clear that these were Dragon Ball Z brownies, we printed and cut out pictures of all the main characters and stuck them in the brownies. Afterward, we added a smooth layer of chocolate ganache, decorated them with fondant (an edible, clay-like substance used to sculpt or decorate cakes) and added a sprinkle of edible gold stars before we delivered them to the boy’s social worker. We were so thrilled with the result of our work and hoped he loved it as much as we did.

June 10:

The next cake we signed up for was for a girl who wanted a red velvet cake with vanilla buttercream frosting. She wanted her cake to be Joker-themed, and with her last name written on it. My mom worked on making the Joker fondant face while I prepared the cake and frosted it. We wanted to go with a purple and green color scheme to represent the Joker’s tuxedo. Some of our favorite touches were writing her last name in the Joker’s teeth and making the red fondant “haha” — we felt it brought the whole cake together. My mom and I were incredibly proud of the outcome of this cake.

July 1:

This cake for a boy was a “batter days are coming” cake, intended for people who may be having rough mental health days due to the pandemic. He wanted a computer- and math-themed cake. We made a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting that wasn’t too sweet, as requested. We forgot to double the recipe on our first try but got it right the second time. When we first frosted the cake, we realized we wanted to make a blue frosting over our crumb coat — the original brown color was not too appealing. The only problem: we had run out of powdered sugar, and it was too late to go to the store.

At this point, we had to improvise, and we attempted to make a new, whipped buttercream recipe with flour and granulated sugar. We couldn’t have been happier with our decision. The cake turned out so vibrant, and the fondant calculator we made looked so cute against the blue frosting! Although we faced many unexpected obstacles, we absolutely loved the way the cake looked in the end, and we hoped this brightened the boy’s day.

For this cake, we were lucky enough to get a feedback reply. His mom said that he enjoyed the chocolate cake and was stunned by how real the calculator looked.

July 10:

For our last cake of the summer, we were assigned a Fortnite cake for a boy.  Fortnite cakes are one of the most heavily requested cakes by boys. For my birthday, my mom gave me a fondant kit with a bunch of tools and cut-outs. We decided to put this kit to use. We made a bunch of fondant sculptures, including the llama, the treasure chest, the life pill, the fire, the pix-ax, the leaves and more. One of my favorites touches: the trees made out of sugar cones. We also liked the whipped buttercream we used in the calculator cake so much that we used it on this cake. We hope that he was totally wowed by this cake.

Cake4Kids has given me so much joy, and I hope it has given thousands of kids that same joy as well.

As I continue with my journey with Cake4Kids throughout this year, I will never forget the power a cake holds.

Contact Kiana George at 803270 ‘at’ seq.org.

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Cake4Kids Highlighted in Ezvid Wiki Video of Organizations Helping Improve the Lives of Homeless Youth

Thanks to Ezvid Wiki for highlighting Cake4Kids in their video “5 Organizations Helping Improve The Lives Of Homeless Kids”! Cake4Kids is #2, starting at 1:12 min: Watch the video

Cake4Kids: Baking for Good

The Sugar Association
March 2020

Allie started baking as a hobby four years ago and has recently found the most fulfilling part of using her skills is "delivering happiness” to kids in the form of a birthday cake they may not have otherwise had.

Cake4Kids was founded in Sunnyvale, CA, in 2010 by Libby Gruender to provide free birthday cakes to foster children and at-risk youth in the San Francisco Bay Area. What started as a grassroots effort with a few volunteers has turned into quite a robust operation with hundreds of volunteers baking over 3,000 cakes per year for youth across the country!

Allie DeNicuolo, who officially opened the Washington, D.C., chapter of Cake4Kids this month, is a self-taught baker. She started baking as a hobby four years ago and over the past year and a half has taken her skills to the next level, spending many hours practicing techniques learned through Instagram and YouTube.

The most fulfilling part of baking for Allie is “delivering happiness” in the form of something homemade and the reward that comes with seeing the smile on the recipient’s face.  Baking can bring such positive feelings in a time when we are bombarded with negative news.

Eight months ago, Allie responded to an ad for volunteers in Virginia to join Cake4Kids. She joined as a volunteer to make cakes for the agency to distribute to kids. For privacy reasons, volunteers don’t get to meet the children they bake for, however, Allie got feedback from the organizer for one of the first cakes she made. The cake had been delivered to a boy on his 8th birthday. He was very excited as it was his first birthday cake ever! It meant so much to Allie that just by doing something she loved she was able to really impact the life of a child, giving this little boy a bright spot amid his rough circumstances. Something so simple made him so happy!

It was clear to Allie the impact the organization has on the lives of these children, so she decided to get more involved. Fast forward to a few months later and Allie is officially opening the Washington D.C. chapter of the organization. The vulnerable children that receive these cakes are not just in big cities like D.C. “We tend to forget what is happening out in the rest of the world. No matter where you live, there is 100% a need in any area that has children in it. All we need is a volunteer who is looking to launch it. The Cake4Kids organization makes the rest of the process seamless and easy.”

Cake4Kids volunteers do not need to be professional or highly experienced bakers! Cake4Kids is also a great opportunity for those who are looking to expand on their baking skills and deliver something meaningful and delicious. As long as it’s baked with love, that is far more important than your ability to decorate!

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Silicon Valley Nonprofits - Cake4Kids

Cake4Kids Executive Director Julie Eades joins Silicon Valley Nonprofits to talk about Cake4Kids

Silicon Valley Nonprofits
Posted Monday, March 9, 2020

If the video above doesn’t work, you can watch the segment here.

Sunnyvale Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce Awards Cake4Kids for Outstanding Community Contribution 2020

On February 22, 2020, Cake4Kids was honored by the Sunnyvale Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce at the 55th Annual Murphy Awards Dinner.

Councilmember Russ Melton presented us with the award for Outstanding Community Contribution. We spoke about our amazing and selfless volunteers and proudly accepted this award.

This award belongs to all of you who bake in Santa Clara County. Thank you!

Cake4Kids received an award for Outstanding Community Contribution 2020 at the 55th Annual Murphy Awards Dinner on February 22, 2020 in Sunnyvale, CA

(Left to right) Keith Paulson, Claire Campodonico (Cake4Kids Volunteer), Russ Melton (Councilmember), and Julie Eades (Cake4Kids Executive Director) at the 55th Annual Murphy Awards Dinner on February 22, 2020 in Sunnyvale, CA

Russ Melton (Councilmember) and Julie Eades (Cake4Kids Executive Director) at the 55th Annual Murphy Awards Dinner on February 22, 2020 in Sunnyvale, CA

Keith Paulson and Claire Campodonico (Cake4Kids Volunteer) at the 55th Annual Murphy Awards Dinner on February 22, 2020 in Sunnyvale, CA

Black History Month: Performing Stars, Black aviators encourage students to 'reach for the skies'

Cake4Kids donated treats to our agency partner, Performing Stars of Marin, for this amazing event!

ABC7 News
By Jobina Fortson
Friday, February 21, 2020

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Performing Stars is a nonprofit helping underserved kids in Marin County achieve their potential.

The organization hosted an event at Lucasfilm where students learned about the Tuskegee airmen. The airmen, who fought in World War II, became the first black pilots in the U.S. military.

Performing Stars students then got to come face to face with today's black pilots, aviation professionals, and even an astronaut.

Every speaker on the stage is continuing to make black history. They desperately hope by sharing their experiences, they'll encourage other young minds to take flight.

The industry needs them. Every airline is experiencing a major pilot and technician shortage.

A Boeing 2019 report projects that 804,000 new civil aviation pilots, 769,000 new maintenance technicians, and 914,000 new cabin crew will be needed to fly and maintain the world fleet over the next 20 years.

The diversity numbers are even more stunning. According to Alaska Airlines, black female pilots make up about one half of 1 percent of all professional pilots across the industry.

"I have had a lot of firsts," Alaska Airlines Captain Tara Wright said. "It's sort of interesting that in 2018, I was part of the first all African American female flight crew for Alaska Airlines."

Captain Wright's flight traveled from SFO to Portland. She's an Oakland native and has girls believing a woman's place is at 30,000 feet.

Students were beaming after learning about careers in aviation.

"I want to be a pilot," Akasha Moore, a 5-year-old Performing Stars student, said.

"I love brownies and flying in the sky," Kashmeer Gomez, a 4-year-old Performing Stars student said.

Flying is expensive and not always accessible. Courtland Savage developed a nonprofit that's finding a way around that.

"With Fly for the Culture, we're promoting diversity and inclusion in the aviation industry," Courtland Savage, pilot and CEO of Fly for the Culture said. "We're doing that by taking young children up on free flights on a smaller aircraft. I want every kid to get a chance to fly."

Lieutenant Colonel Jason Harris hails from Oakland as well. He said every time he flies in and out of that airport, he gets chills. He wants other black children to one day have that same experience.

"I stand on the shoulders of giants just like those original Tuskegee airmen," Lt. Col. Harris said. "I want these young people to have the opportunity to see that I'm just like them, and to show them that they have the opportunity to stand on my shoulders and all those that were on that stage with me today."

If the video above doesn’t work, you can watch the segment here.

Spreading Joy Through Baking

Candice Humphrey decorates a cake in her office's kitchen Sunday afternoon. Humphrey, of Bardstown, is the new Cakes4Kids ambassador for Kentucky's first chapter of the program that provides birthday cakes to children in need.

KACIE GOODE/The Kentucky Standard

Mary Beth Newton drops off a Cakes4Kids cake at the Nelson County Early Learning Family Resource Center Feb. 7. The cake was the first for the new program. The local chapter of Cakes4Kids was launched by Bardstown woman Candice Humphrey.

KACIE GOODE/The Kentucky Standard

The Kentucky Standard
By Kacie Goode
February 11, 2020 1:28 pm / Updated: February 11 4:10 pm)

Candice Humphrey believes every child deserves to feel special at least one day a year, regardless of financial or home circumstances. This is part of the reason she launched a local chapter — Kentucky’s first — of Cake4Kids, a program bringing together volunteer bakers to provide birthday cakes for at-risk children.

“I was actually looking for a charity for my attorneys to volunteer with when they were in California for a conference,” said Humphrey, a marketing and communications coordinator for McCoy, Hiestand & Smith, PLC. That is when she came across Cake4Kids and was immediately inspired by the opportunity. “I thought, ‘Wow, this is such an easy way for people to do great things for others.’”

The Cake4Kids project started in California in 2010 and has since formed chapters in California, Virginia and now Kentucky, with Humphrey adopting the role of Kentucky Cake4Kids Ambassador. Its mission is to bake and deliver personalized cakes to underserved kids in communities. 

“There are a lot of kids in Kentucky and around the world that don’t get a day to make them feel special,” Humphrey said. “Birthdays were always big for me, so I just wanted that for everybody else.” 

With no chapters available in the area, Humphrey decided to introduce one, and led the first local Cake4Kids orientation Jan. 25. There were 13 interested volunteers in attendance that day, an impressive number considering the orientations in California, where the program originates, averages about 15 participants, Humphrey said. The program has received enough local attention already that she has a second orientation planned for the end of the month. 

To participate in Cake4Kids, a volunteer baker must first go through orientation to learn more about the process. Then, the baker can sign up to fulfill cake orders. The bakers can choose how often they want to bake and which orders they want to fulfill, so the program works well with a variety of schedules and abilities.

While the cakes are expected to meet certain criteria and standards, Humphrey said, the majority of those who work with the program are home bakers, not professionals. 

“Anybody can help,” Humphrey said, adding it requires little money and time to create something that will have a big impact on a local child. 

Mary Beth Newton, a Nelson County teacher, was among those who attended the first orientation and was honored to fulfill the very first cake order for the chapter last week.

“It wasn’t hard at all, and I have a decently busy schedule, but there are ways you can plan around it,” Newton said of volunteering for the program. “It really wasn’t hard and it makes you feel good.”

She made a playful feminine cake for a teenage girl who has been battling serious health issues since birth. Newton said she spent hours practicing her icing rosettes to make the “girly, pink and purple” cake request perfect.

The teen’s family posted on social media after the delivery how thrilled they were with the outcome and how the program helped mark a cherished celebration.

For Newton, the opportunity was a rewarding one, and she was inspired to get involved in the program because she has witnessed firsthand the struggles some families and children deal with.

“I feel like the kids that are going to be impacted by this program are similar to the kids I work with at school,” Newton said. “I see a lot of things taken for granted that some people just don’t have — something as simple as a birthday cake.” 

Typically, the program partners with agencies that serve at-risk children, such as group homes, domestic violence and homeless shelters, and low-income housing areas. Currently, the local Cake4Kids chapter is collaborating with the Family Resource Center serving the Nelson County Early Learning Center and Boston School to identify children who could benefit from the program. Humphrey has reached out to other centers across both local school districts and will look at involving more agencies as the program evolves.

For Katrina Haydon, the FRYSC coordinator for Boston and the ELC, the project is a heartwarming idea.

“Some of the families that we work with, they don’t have that opportunity to give that extra little bit of special to the kids,” Haydon said, and by participating in Cake4Kids, her center can help make a child’s birthday or other celebration a little more special while taking the burden off of struggling families. 

The next orientation for Cake4Kids will be 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26, at the main branch of the Nelson County Public Library. Those interested in being a volunteer baker for Cake4Kids can sign up at cake4kids.org under the Volunteer Page.

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