Tinker and Bake Blog Post featuring Cake4Kids: Bags, Tips and Couplers...Oh My!

Meghann Shaffer, a Chef Instructor with the Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, and owner of Blackbird Baking Company in Fort Collins, CO, recently shared great baking tips for piping borders and flowers and creating beautiful lettering with the Cake4Kids bakers in Northern Colorado.

Her recent blog post covers some great tips and mentions Cake4Kids!

Check it out on her page here: https://tinkerandbake.com/2021/05/16/bags-tips-and-couplers-oh-my/

Find out how these volunteers make a difference by baking cakes

ABC4 Salt Lake City
By Michelle Nguyen, Nicea DeGering
Wednesday, May 12, 2021 10:44 am

Becky Carroll, Northern Utah Ambassador for Cake4Kids came by to talk about their amazing program. 

Volunteer Bakers bake and deliver cakes to underserved children and youth. These children and youth are often in homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters, foster care, low-income families, and other difficult situations. Cake4Kids started in 2010 in California when a woman named Libby Gruender read an article about a foster girl becoming emotional upon receiving her first birthday cake. Cake4Kids has spread to 11 States now, with the Northern Utah Chapter being the first in Utah

Becky’s Grandparents did Foster Care for over 30 years, and their service left an impression on her. She wanted a way to use her set of skills and interests to help out as well. Becky discovered Cake4Kids in December of 2020, just a few days before her birthday. She reached out to the organization asking if opening a Utah Chapter was something we could do. Four months later they opened, and their chapter is now partnered with 8 agencies and they are delivering smiles to children and youth one birthday cake at a time.

Cake4Kids also recognizes that other special times in a child’s life sometimes go uncelebrated. So, their volunteers also bake treats for graduations, adoptions, and seasonal celebrations

They are always looking to partner with more agencies that serve children and youth. Teens 16-17 can volunteer with an adult, 18 and older can volunteer on their own.

Find Cake4Kids on FB, and IG. 

Visit www.cake4kids.org to sign up as a volunteer, or to learn how to open up a chapter in your area.

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Birthday cakes for all: Utah non-profit strives to serve underprivileged children

ABC4 Salt Lake City
By Reem Ikram
Friday, April 30, 2021 2:33 pm (Updated April 30, 2021 02:46 PM)

LOGAN, Utah (ABC4) – Growing up in an internet-savvy world with many seemingly pitted against each other on social media can already be hard enough on America’s youth. But for underprivileged children today, those challenges are even more amplified.

A local non-profit located in Northern Utah, Cake4Kids, is determined to change that.

Cake4Kids is an organization that bakes and delivers birthday cakes for underserved children. According to the team, this demographic includes children who 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.

“A personalized cake is something that, as adults, we forget how much it means to a child,” shares Becky Carroll, Cake4Kids Northern Utah ambassador. “Many people want to help children in need. Cake4Kids allows people to use their skills and resources to make children feel special and create a positive birthday memory.”

The non-profit is made up of volunteers who are mostly home-bakers. According to the team, there is no minimum commitment, and those who participate can choose how often they bake and which cakes they want to create on top of that.

After volunteers finish their piece, they then deliver it to one of the Cake4Kids partner agencies that support the youth.

“Our volunteers never meet the children we support, but every cake is custom-made for each child and an enormous amount of love is baked into each one,” shares Cake4Kids.

Since 2010, the organization has baked and delivered over 24,000 cakes nationwide.

If you are interested on volunteering, starting another Utah Chapter, or would like more information, click here.

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Northern Utah non-profit provides birthday treats for underserved kids

Fox13 Salt Lake City
By Sydney Glenn
Thursday, April 29, 2021 10:06 pm

LOGAN, Utah — The non-profit Cake4Kids is trying to make sure underserved children in Utah feel special on their birthday and are able to have something just for them: any birthday treat they want.

Each year thousands of kids spend time in Utah’s foster care system. Others spend time in domestic violence shelters or homeless shelters.

Last year, Becky Carroll was scrolling through Instagram and came across the Cake4Kids page.

“When I saw these cakes were going to foster children I just knew I had to be part of it,” she said.

Her plan was to volunteer. She loves to bake and since her grandparents were foster parents she has a special place in her heart foster children.

“I went to sign up as a volunteer, but they did not have any chapters in Utah,” she said.

In Dec. Carroll started the Northern Utah chapter of the non-profit. After months of working to partner with agencies, the chapter has been able to help two Utah children celebrate birthdays. One child requested a blue cake, the other brownies.

“In foster care sometimes, these kids are taken out of a home with a garbage bag that has their stuff in it, so to get something that was made just for them means a lot to them,” she said.

In college student Cooper Parry’s apartment, he has spent several days and hours perfecting the perfect birthday treat.

“I am doing my very best, but yes, I am not a professional what so ever,” he said.

He credits his family and him time working at a boys home for his passion to help others. With some help from his girlfriend and Pinterest, Parry decided to make brownies that look like ice cream cones for a child in need.

“I know nothing about them, just that it is some kid that needs a little something for their birthday and that’s all that I know,” he said and he finished decorating the birthday treats.

For more information on how to volunteer, or start another Utah chapter, click here.

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Cake4Kids Comes to Boston Area

The Somerville Times
By Denise Keniston
Wednesday, April 28, 2021

Cake4Kids is looking for volunteer bakers and agencies with underserved kids.

Cake4Kids is a nonprofit that provides custom birthday and celebration cakes to underserved children. They have delivered thousands of cakes to kids all over the country and Boston is ready to get in on the sweetness!

Professional pastry chef Tali Pinnolis is the ambassador for the new Boston area chapter. She says a lot of families struggle to celebrate birthdays. “Imagine growing up never having a birthday cake. For the majority of us, the thought is difficult, if not inconceivable, to imagine,” says Pinnolis. “With the COVID pandemic, especially, many families are so strapped for time, money and energy that celebrating a child’s birthday is out of reach.”

Cake4Kids was founded in 2010 by the late Libby Gruender in Sunnyvale, California and now has eight chapters, including Boston. The organization connects with its recipients through social workers or agency caseworkers, who learn the preferred flavors and themes for a child’s desired birthday cake. Then it finds a volunteer to bake, decorate and deliver that cake.

Professional pastry chef Tali Pinnolis, Ambassador Cake4Kids Boston Chapter.

Somerville’s Winter Hill Community Innovation School is one of the first to get on board. Marah Paley, a clinical social worker at the school, says Cake4Kids is a great idea. “We’re very excited to have to program roll out this Spring and start providing some of our kids with birthday cakes.” She continues, “A lot of kids here will be so happy to have a cake made especially for them – it’s really a wonderful thing.”

Pinnolis’ Boston Chapter is currently recruiting bakers who will be carefully vetted for security and safety protocols. She says, “You do not need to be a professional baker to volunteer. There is also no minimum cake baking requirement for volunteers, which means you can decide to bake 1 cake or 50 cakes, whatever works for your schedule.” She adds, “It’s most important that our bakers put their best skills to use and have the cake delivered to the office on time.”

Pinnolis has been preparing for her role as Boston Chapter ambassador for months. She talks to other chapters weekly who share their experiences. “They hear over and over again from the youth, ‘I can’t believe someone took the time out of their day to make something just for me. I feel so incredibly special, and I don’t often feel that way,’” says Pinnolis.

Volunteer bakers must be at least 18-years-old (or 16, if with a parent volunteer), be a good baker (not necessarily pro-level, but decent with proficient decorating skills) and be able to deliver the decorated cake to a Cake4Kids agency during a specified time window.

Spots are filling up fast for the first virtual volunteer baker orientation on May 4. Sign up at https://www.cake4kids.org/volunteer-form.

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Delivering Platefuls of Love During Tough Times

Loudoun Now
By Jan Mercker
Thursday, April 1, 2021

When times are tough, sometimes it’s the little things that mean the most.A home-cooked meal or a custom birthday cake can bring joy. Two recently launched Loudoun organizations are filling bellies and creating community—one meal and one cake at a time.

Cake Love from Cake4Kids

Dottie Swanson is the ambassador of the Cake4Kids Loudoun chapter.

Baking enthusiast Dottie Swanson launched the Loudoun chapter of Cake4Kids last August. Cake4Kids also is a national nonprofit launched in 2010 to provide special occasion cakes and treats for children in need, including kids in shelters and foster care. The concept is to connect volunteer bakers with children to bring sweetness and joy to special occasions in the face of big problems like homelessness and job loss.

“Think about your life—you have a cake for every event…Some of these children have never had a birthday cake,” Swanson said. “To know that there’s somebody in their community that they don’t know, that they’ll never meet, made them a custom birthday cake. It helps the children, and it helps the family, too.”

Swanson, who lives in Willowsford, is a hobby baker whose passion for baking was passed on from her grandfather, a cook in the U.S. Army during World War II. Swanson got involved with the Cake4Kids Northern Virginia chapter as a baker and volunteered to coordinate the launch of the Loudoun chapter last year. Cake4Kids doesn’t take direct orders. Instead, the organization works with social service agencies around Loudoun to match clients with bakers, including the Sterling-based nonprofit INMED Partnerships for Children.

“They’re doing an amazing job,” said INMED’s Rosa Tobar, who adds that for many of her clients, a personalized birthday cake is a luxury they can’t afford, as COVID-related job loss and other factors create challenges. Tobar helps coordinate cake pick-ups for her clients and said she was especially touched when one young client got the LOL doll cake of her dreams.

“Her eyes just opened wide as soon as she saw it,” Tobar said.

Cake4Kids now has 75 Loudoun-based bakers on board and another 75 in the region who deliver to Loudoun. Volunteers are mostly home bakers, but the group includes professionals, too. Bakers offer gorgeous and delicious cakes, along with brownies, cookies and other goodies for graduations and other special events. Since launching last summer, the group has delivered 115 “bakes” of all kinds and is ready to serve more kids through partner agencies. Swanson says that as new volunteers come on board, the chapter is ready to take on additional agency partners and hopes more organizations will reach out so that she and her bakers can help brighten special days for more Loudoun kids.

Swanson says that when she’s baking for Cake4Kids, she often puts two days into each project.

“A lot goes into those cakes,” Swanson said. “Driving away after delivering a cake, it is so worth it: the joy of knowing that I’ve helped a child on their birthday.”

For more information, go to cake4kids.org/our-chapters-loudoun. Caseworkers and volunteer bakers can also contact Swanson atdottie@cake4kids.org.

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Cake4Kids Northern Virginia Ambassador Mary Campbell on "Your Need To Know"

Cake4Kids Northern Virginia Ambassador Mary Campbell talks to Catherine Read from the show “Your Need to Know”!

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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