7News Helping Hands, Easterns Automotive Group surprise Cake4Kids with $2,200!
Thousands of children around the DMV experience their birthdays without a birthday cake. In fact, some say they have never received one. That's why one Fairfax county nonprofit called Cake4Kids is working to change that.
It's something you might not think of, but unfortunately it happens all the time.
"It never occurred to me that children go without a birthday cake and that broke my heart," said Mary Campbell, owner of nonprofit Cake4Kids. "It's homeless children, it's children in domestic violence shelters, it's foster children, it's children in immigration services, and it's children with free and reduced lunch. We do a lot of Title I schools."
That's why Campbell is making a difference in her Fairfax County kitchen through her nonprofit.
"I thought, 'How would I feel if it was my child's birthday and I wasn't able to provide something?' So I wanted to be able to bring something here," Campbell said.
By WJLA
March 27, 2023
Thousands of children around the DMV experience their birthdays without a birthday cake. In fact, some say they have never received one. That's why one Fairfax county nonprofit called Cake4Kids is working to change that.
It's something you might not think of, but unfortunately it happens all the time.
"It never occurred to me that children go without a birthday cake and that broke my heart," said Mary Campbell, owner of nonprofit Cake4Kids. "It's homeless children, it's children in domestic violence shelters, it's foster children, it's children in immigration services, and it's children with free and reduced lunch. We do a lot of Title I schools."
That's why Campbell is making a difference in her Fairfax County kitchen through her nonprofit.
"I thought, 'How would I feel if it was my child's birthday and I wasn't able to provide something?' So I wanted to be able to bring something here," Campbell said.
She does that with the help of 650 local volunteer bakers – many who say they aren't really bakers at all.
Patt Rossini, a volunteer said she had the chance to bake for a kid who has never had a cake before.
"It was a last-minute request for a Fort Nite cake, and later I got a 'thank you' picture with the child and that killed me," Rossini said.
7News and Easterns Automotive Group were inspired by Cake4Kids' mission and decided to surprise the nonprofit with a 7News Helping Hand.
"Cake4Kids is an amazing organization. You guys do something that many people take for granted by supporting those kids who might not have a cake for their birthday," said Joel Bassam from Easterns Automotive Group. "Using that secret ingredient of baking extra love into it and then delivering it to their home is an amazing way to support the community. We want to help you guys continue to do that by donating $2,200 so you can continue baking all of those cakes across the DMV."
Campbell was extremely grateful for the surprise donation. She says everything (and everyone) helps their goal of giving kids cakes on their birthdays a success.
"I say it all of the time, I am a small part of it," Campbell said. "It's all of us and everybody cares and that's the beauty of it."
Birthday cake delivery nonprofit hits major milestone
A local nonprofit organization is celebrating a milestone.
Cake4Kids of Northern Utah recently delivered its 1,000th cake to a child in need.
Becky Carroll began the northern Utah chapter in 2021 as a way to honor the memory of her grandparents who dedicated their lives to helping foster children. They passed away during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I just wanted a way to honor their service,” Carroll said.
Cake4Kids delivers homemade birthday cakes to children who likely would not receive a cake on their special day without these donations.
The creations are intricate and no request from a child is impossible.
By John Franchi
March 6, 2023
SALT LAKE CITY — A local nonprofit organization is celebrating a milestone.
Cake4Kids of Northern Utah recently delivered its 1,000th cake to a child in need.
Becky Carroll began the northern Utah chapter in 2021 as a way to honor the memory of her grandparents who dedicated their lives to helping foster children. They passed away during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I just wanted a way to honor their service,” Carroll said.
Cake4Kids delivers homemade birthday cakes to children who likely would not receive a cake on their special day without these donations.
The creations are intricate and no request from a child is impossible.
Cakes with different themes like bowling, Disney, and Lego are just a few examples of the delicious treats that helped children smile on their special day.
The effort requires a small army of volunteer bakers.
What began with about a dozen volunteers two years ago has grown to 250.
“We have a lot of moms like Alyssa and I that can't do a lot of things outside of the house, but I can bake a cake and deliver it to someone and still fit in time for my family,” Carroll said.
She was referring to Allysa Johanson who baked a candy-filled cake for a teenager.
Johanson has baked and donated about a dozen cakes since joining Cake4Kids.
“It warms your heart,” Johanson said. “There is nothing quite like knowing that somebody else is going to hopefully have that wow moment when they get their own cake.”
The cake baked by Johanson was delivered to the Children’s Service Society, a Utah organization with several missions including providing services to children in need of permanent families and assisting families caring for a relative’s child.
“I think about the girl that cake is going to and it almost brings me to tears because I know what it will mean to her,” said Alyssa Craven, the grand families director at Children’s Service Society.
Cake4Kids partners with several organizations like CSS to identify children in need of a birthday cake.
“We thought it would be perfect to get cakes into homes where children are usually experiencing trauma and working on healing,” Craven said. “The caregivers – the last thing on their mind is putting together a dessert.”
While volunteer bakers never get to meet the children who receive their delicious works of art, they know the time they spend in the kitchen is making a difference and that’s why they are ready to bake their next 1,000 cakes and beyond.
“I can't go in and stop bad things from happening, but you can spread joy,” Carroll said. “It’s really important to do little things that make people happy and that just brightens the world.”
Cake4Kids serves children in Cache, Box Elder, Weber, Davis, Tooele and Salt Lake counties.
Sweetest Surprise
Sweetest Surprise
65 Degree Magazine, by Cailtin Fillmore
Everyone has a birthday—a special day dedicated to the moment that they entered this world. Birthdays carry symbolic significance and are celebrated with enthusiasm in most global cultures. But many children living in Monterey County do not experience the warmth, love, and individualized celebrations that most of us enjoy on our birthdays.
Cake4Kids began in 2010 with a sweet and simple mission: making sure that all children can celebrate their birthdays with cake. Since then, the nonprofit has delivered 40,000 cakes to children in refugee camps, group homes, foster care, and other settings associated with the 750 Cake4Kids partner agencies across the country. In Monterey County, children have blown out candles on 700 Cake4Kids creations since Jen Ibarra took the leap to start a local chapter of the nonprofit in 2020.
By Cailtin Fillmore
Winter 2023
Everyone has a birthday—a special day dedicated to the moment that they entered this world. Birthdays carry symbolic significance and are celebrated with enthusiasm in most global cultures. But many children living in Monterey County do not experience the warmth, love, and individualized celebrations that most of us enjoy on our birthdays.
Cake4Kids began in 2010 with a sweet and simple mission: making sure that all children can celebrate their birthdays with cake. Since then, the nonprofit has delivered 40,000 cakes to children in refugee camps, group homes, foster care, and other settings associated with the 750 Cake4Kids partner agencies across the country. In Monterey County, children have blown out candles on 700 Cake4Kids creations since Jen Ibarra took the leap to start a local chapter of the nonprofit in 2020.
Ibarra serves as an operations manager for Cake4Kids and is a volunteer ambassador for the newly formed Monterey region of the Sunnyvale-based nonprofit. Ibarra got hooked on cake decorating after attempting a Winnie-the-Pooh cake for her first child’s first birthday. In the years that followed, Ibarra made birthday cakes for her four children’s special days as well as for other local children from her church or community who didn’t have a birthday cake.
When the COVID-19 pandemic was declared and many volunteer opportunities were unavailable, Ibarra discovered Cake4Kids and quickly established the Monterey chapter. “We recognize these kids have bigger needs, but that’s not all that’s needed for a child to have a full and happy life,” explains Ibarra. “They need to know they matter. During the [first waves of the] pandemic, one of our agencies told me it was the single most important thing they did because they were cut off from the kids as well. [The cakes provided] a crucial bridge to kids.”
More than 160 Monterey-area volunteer bakers sign on to an online portal to review the types of cakes that children have dreamed up.
Birthday boys and girls can choose the theme, colors, icing, and flavors they want, and the child’s name is always on the cake.
Volunteer Kiska Icard discovered Cake4Kids as a way to improve her baking skills while helping others during the initial waves of the pandemic. Icard was impressed with how simple it was to make a difference and cherishes the thank-you sentiments she received from a teen who loved her red velvet creation. “Go to the website and register. Do it now,” says Icard. “There is zero downside. You may volunteer as little or as much as you would like. It will make you a better baker, and a better person.”
Bakers of all skill levels come together to do something special for a child they will never meet. Instead, agency partners, such as Lori at Rancho Cielo, deliver the Cake4Kids creations on the volunteers’ behalf. Lori explains that many of the children she works with either never experienced getting a birthday cake or never received one that they did not have to share with other children in their group-living environment.
For Lori, Ibarra’s work to organize Cake4Kids in Monterey was perfect timing, as the children had become increasingly depressed and isolated during the pandemic’s shutdowns. A cheerful cake celebrating all of the child’s favorite things, from sharks to social media, was helpful. “A thank you is not enough,” says Lori about the volunteer bakers, who put so much love into the birthday cakes. “It can be hard for these kids to share emotions,” she says. “When you surprise them with something they’re not expecting . . . that they’re not forgotten, and someone did something just for them . . . wow, what an amazing feeling.”
For more information, visit cake4kids.org.
LInk to the article
Volunteer bakers, donations needed to fulfill birthday cake wishes of underprivileged children
By Jennifer Franco
July 28, 2022 9:15 PM
Cake4Kids is in need of volunteers and donations as it prepares for the busier fall months.
The non-profit organization provides cakes for underprivileged children who may not normally receive a cake for special occasions.
“We not only bake cakes for the birthdays and graduations, but certainly as holidays come up if the agencies have a need they’re going to throw some parties or a fundraiser, we’ll also bake for those occasions as well,” said Ray Biller, Ambassador for the Coachella Valley Cake4Kids chapter.
Cake4Kids works with several partner agencies that deliver homemade cakes directly to children, after they are baked entirely for free by volunteers.
These agencies include Olive Crest, CFLC Sheltering Palms Foster Family Agency, Barbara Sinatra Children's Center, The Boys and Girls Club in Cathedral City, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Desert, among others.
“In earlier years in my career I worked with at-risk youth, with children in disadvantaged homes and communities, so I felt I’ve been missing that and this was a perfect opportunity for me to connect with them and give back,”said Elizabeth Campos, a volunteer baker with Cake4Kids.
Elizabeth Campos, Cake4Kids volunteer baker
Cake baked by Elizabeth Campos
The non-profit launched locally in March 2022 and has been well-received since then, according to Ray Biller, Ambassador for the Coachella Valley Cake4Kids chapter.
“When I first started seeing if there was really a need out here in the valley I wasn’t quite sure what I’d find, but I was a little overwhelmed by what we discovered,” said Biller.
“I discovered that 60% of the kids in the school districts out here in the valley live underneath the poverty line,” he added.
Cake4Kids is holding its first fundraiser in the Coachella Valley on Wednesday, August 17 at One Eleven Bar in Cathedral City. Anyone interested in the event is invited to attend.
Link to article
Cake4Kids on NBC Palm Springs
Thalia Hayden from NBC Palm Springs recently interviewed Cake4Kids’ Coachella Valley Ambassador, Ray Biller, about Cake4Kids! Check out the interview below!
If the video below doesn’t work, you can view it here.
Now that takes the cake — to underserved kids
By Mike De Felice For the Review
June 25, 2022 1:30 am
Underprivileged children associated with family shelters, the foster system, domestic violence or human trafficking agencies, or food banks are among those who receive birthday cakes from Cake4Kids. (Courtesy photo)
Swirling pink, purple and blue frosting on the unicorn cake was a huge hit when an 8-year-old Bainbridge Island girl opened her eyes and saw the colorful creation at her birthday celebration.
The mother of the second-grader beamed and said, “She was super excited to see all the colors, candles and decorations. It was a blessing.”
Designs on the unicorn cake were so impressive that they led to a tiff between family members. “The family got into an argument over what was the best way to cut the cake to preserve the decorations, but we all knew we wanted to eat it!” the mom laughed.
Leading up to her daughter’s birthday party, the single mom of two girls, who found herself stressed and strapped for cash, turned to Cake4Kids for help. The nonprofit has volunteer bakers who make special treats for children who otherwise may go without a birthday cake on their special day.
“At Cake4Kids, we say that no child should go without a birthday cake,” said Dawn Snider, Kitsap County lead for the nonprofit. “We all grew up getting birthday cakes every year, and we remember. We don’t realize there are children in our neighborhood and our community that may have never had a birthday cake. Our mission is to bring joy to these children.”
The nonprofit works with agencies serving youth to locate kids who could use a birthday surprise. Underprivileged children associated with family shelters, the foster system, domestic violence or human trafficking agencies, or food banks are among those benefited by Cake4Kids, Snider noted.
Once a service agency selects a young candidate, the group puts out the referral to its volunteer bakers who pull out their mixing pans and heat up their ovens. Goodies whipped up by chefs include birthday cakes, cupcakes, cookies and brownies. “It’s whatever the child requests,” said Snider, of BI.
Bakers often create theme cakes – examples include dinosaurs, skateboarding and popular movies like Disney’s “Frozen.”
A baker who accepts a job is responsible for buying all the ingredients and getting the finished product to the referring agency. “For privacy concerns, we never see or meet the child,” Snider pointed out. “While they don’t meet the client, oftentimes the volunteer baker gets a thank-you card and sometimes gets a picture of the smiling child with the cake.”
Volunteer bakers
Cake4Kids began in California in 2010 and has expanded to 40 chapters across 11 states. The nonprofit expanded to Kitsap County last fall. Agencies wishing to make referrals can contact Snider at dawn@cake4kids.org. Volunteer bakers can go to cake4kids.org.
Cakes4Kids has 14 bakers in Kitsap County. The group primarily is active in North Kitsap, Snider said, but the group is looking to expand to the central and south county and is looking for volunteers in those areas. “Our bakers are people who love to bake, have the time and love helping children,” Snider said.
Local bakers range from a scientist and a counselor to people in marketing and the tech field. Retirees also have signed up. They all learn in the process.
“[Our bakers] have some competency in the basic ability to decorate cakes but you don’t have to be a professional. Like myself, I can do basic decorating, but I thought it would be fun to learn how to be a better decorator,” Snider said.
Bakers sign up to make as many desserts as they want. “Some bakers are very active and bake one or two times a month. Others do one or two a year,” she said.
Kim Fox of Bainbridge Island has been a Cake4Kids volunteer baker for several months.
“My grandmother made me decorated cakes growing up,” Fox said. “I have fond memories of that. Now, I’m addicted to watching YouTube videos to learn about cake decorating.”
Fox, a retired software executive, finds her volunteer kitchen work satisfying. “I feel good about delivering a cake. It’s not like writing a check — this is much more personal,” said Fox, who recently finished making a Sonic the Hedgehog cake for a lucky child.
Dawn Snider of Cake4Kids: “Our bakers are people who love to bake, have the time, and love helping children.” (Courtesy photo)
Dawn Snider of Cake4Kids: “Our bakers are people who love to bake, have the time, and love helping children.” (Courtesy photo)
Link to article
Cakes celebrate milestones for kids in shelters, foster care
Cake4Kids volunteer baker Tina Sampson was recently highlighted as an Everyday Hero by ABC Denver7! Watch Denver7’s segment about Tina and Cake4Kids below!
By: Kevin S. Krug
Posted at 10:15 PM, Jun 19, 2022
and last updated 6:49 AM, Jun 20, 2022
It takes a lot of practice to become an expert cake decorator. Luckily for the bakers who are part of the Northern Colorado chapter of Cake4Kids, they have bakers like Tina Sampson to help give them a hand.
ARVADA, Colo. – It takes a lot of practice to become an expert cake decorator. Luckily for the bakers who are part of the Northern Colorado chapter of Cake4Kids, they have bakers like Tina Sampson to help give them a hand.
Over the last year and a half, the 300-plus bakers who are part of the chapter have made more than 1,000 cakes for kids who are in foster care, shelters and other programs where they might not always get a special cake for graduations, birthdays and other milestones.
Of those 1,000 cakes, Sampson has baked and decorated more than 30 herself.
“I think it doesn't hurt, right, to put a little extra love in what you're doing so that the kids can feel that too,” she said with a smile. “One of the cakes that I baked last year that I'll always remember was for a 5-year-old girl who was in a domestic abuse shelter. And I did get emotional when I was making her cake.”
There are more than 20 Cake4Kids chapters across the nation, but only one in Colorado right now. Executive Director Alison Bakewell said the volunteers put their own time, money, and love into what they baked because they know if the kids’ birthdays aren’t getting celebrated, there are probably other important milestones in their lives that aren’t getting celebrated either.
“What we're really trying to do is making sure that they know someone who doesn't even know them cares — that they're worth the time and effort a volunteer takes and puts into the cakes or cupcakes that they back,” she said.
To learn how you can volunteer or donate to Cake4Kids, click here.
The kids who receive the cakes can request any flavor and any decoration. Sampson said cakes with swirled flavors and red velvet cakes are some of the most popular cakes being requested right now. Whatever the flavor, whatever the theme, Sampson puts a little something extra in it from her heart.
“I feel like the giving for me is also putting the love and the energy into the product so that the child receiving it might feel that energy and that love coming from the baker," she said.
Link to article
Get your bake on: Make and decorate a cake for an underserved youth
Winston Gieseke
Palm Springs Desert Sun
Does the thought of a child without a birthday cake make you sad? Do you enjoy baking and decorating cakes? Are you looking for an easy way to make a child feel special and loved on his or her birthday?
Consider becoming a volunteer baker for Cake4Kids.
Cake4Kids is an 11-year-old nonprofit currently active in 13 states plus the District of Columbia that provides free birthday cakes, cupcakes, cookies, brownies and other baked goods to underserved youth and foster children, ages 1-24.
As the organization's website says: "On the surface, a birthday cake may seem like a trivial gesture in supporting the at-risk children in our local communities, but every cake is a way to let the children know they are valued. For children who are victims of human trafficking, domestic abuse or neglect, receiving a personal birthday sweet helps to bolster their confidence and self-esteem and encourages them to keep on."
Southern California native Ray Biller recently started a Coachella Valley chapter of Cake4Kids and is looking for volunteers. The organization, which began this month, has already partnered with agencies such as the Barbara Sinatra Children's Center, Olive Crest, the East Valley LGBT Center and the Boys & Girls Club.
"This organization started up in the Bay area," Biller says. "In September 2010, a woman named Libby Gruender came up with the idea that every kid should have a cake for a special event. Sadly, she died three years after starting the program but her legacy carries on."
There are currently more than 800 Cake4Kids volunteers in the Bay Area.
While living in San Diego, Biller learned about the organization from his sister. "I love to cook and bake, and she said I would be perfect for this. Every time I dropped off one of my cakes, it felt good."
Volunteering is easy. All you need to do is sign up to make a specific dessert based on a request or theme, then bake and decorate on your schedule in the comfort of your own kitchen. When the sweets are complete, you deliver them to the local social services agency that requested them, Monday-Friday during business hours.
Volunteers do not have contact with the children they bake for.
There is no time commitment. Volunteers can bake one cake per year or 10.
Biller is passionate about the organization and its mission. "I grew up with birthday cakes every year on my birthday," he says, "and I always appreciated them, so I thought 'I need to be doing this for these kids as well.'"
Interesting in volunteering your baking skills? Cake4Kids will be hosting a local in-person volunteer orientation, which will last an hour to 90 minutes, on July 23. Learn more at cake4kids.org/volunteer
Questions? Email volcor@cake4kids.org.
Link to article
In brief: Let them eat cake
Produced By Kendall Balchan & Mark Talkington
Starting in June, the Coachella Valley will be home to a chapter of Cake4Kids, an organization that bakes and delivers free birthday cakes to underserved kids who might not otherwise get one.
Bringing back birthdays: When you’re a kid, the whole kid universe revolves around the winter holidays, Halloween, and your birthday.
But for young people in underserved communities, those hallmarks of childhood may be missed.
The cause: Cake4Kids serves children from all walks of life, focusing on kids in foster care, in group homes, survivors of domestic violence or human trafficking, living in low-income housing with or without a parent, or even unhoused kids.
Local impact: The soon-to-launch Coachella Valley chapter has so far partnered with the Barbara Sinatra Children's Center, Olivecrest Foster programs, The LGBT Center in East Valley, and the Boys and Girls Club.
What’s next: Now that the groundwork is laid, organizers are asking for volunteers who can help bake cakes, cupcakes, cookies, or brownies for these kids.
Volunteers can choose how often and which cakes they want to bake.
For more information: Call Ray Biller, the Coachella Valley Ambassador for Cake4Kids at 760-671-0107 or reach out online here.
Read more about how the organization got started in 2010 in the Bay Area.
Sheryl's Good Deeds - Cake4Kids
Mix96 in Sacramento recently featured Cake4Kids in their Sheryl’s Good Deeds program. Sheryl interviewed Leigh Ann Higa, our Cake4Kids Sacramento Ambassador. Watch the video below!
We’ve teamed up with JustServe.org to motivate service in the Sacramento community! This week, we learn more about Cake4Kids, an amazing and compassionate group of volunteers who donate all the ingredients and supplies needed to bake birthday cakes for underserved kids who might not otherwise get one.
Cake4Kids brings dessert to underserved youth
Fairfax County Times
By Laura Scudder
January 14, 2022
Northern Virginia’s chapter has served nearly 2,000 cakes since 2019
From birthdays to graduation celebrations, one organization has the cake covered for underserved youth. Cake4Kids in Northern Virginia partners with 80-90 agencies in the area, creating cakes for special events. After almost three years, they have about 500 volunteers who have all baked and delivered nearly 2,000 cakes.
Cake4Kids was originally founded in California by Libby Gruender. Mary Campbell, the Cake4Kids ambassador for Northern Virginia, learned of the organization and reached out to see how she could become involved.
Northern Virginia became the first chapter outside of California in 2019, and Campbell now works for the national organization in operations.
“It’s gotten extremely big and busy quickly. We have just a great community here of people that want to help, and it’s just kind of blown up,” she explained, also saying that the company has expanded into other states.
Campbell explained that the kids and youth range from 1-24 years old. She noted that this was due to the fact that the chapter followed California’s guidelines about what signifies the age of transition to adulthood.
Campbell said that the children get to choose the flavor and theme of their cake — and it can be as elaborate or simple as they wish. Bakers will then sign up to bake and deliver the cake.
“Our bakers, who are tremendous … a lot of them will watch and see if there’s cakes still sitting there, and they’re hell-bent on making sure that every child gets their cake and that we don’t cancel,” she said. “I’ll get emails that say ‘Don’t cancel that cake, I’ll take it’ … Here in Northern Virginia, we have never canceled on a child. So we’ve delivered every single one and the bakers are very supportive of each other.”
While she credits all the bakers for being creative and taking great care with each cake, Campbell said that she has seen some truly amazing designs — including a cake that looked like a bowl of baked beans.
In general, Cake4Kids will ask for about two weeks to bake a cake, though they have pulled things together sooner. For Campbell, baking for as many people as possible is important.
“I think that is one of the biggest rewards for me to know that we’re helping families and we’re bringing smiles to the children. We’re making a lot of kids happy,” she said.
Those looking to volunteer can go to the website to sign up — and all levels of baking experience are welcome, Campbell noted.
She said that not everyone can make a baked bean cake, but if you have basic decorating abilities the help is welcome. All bakers provide their own ingredients and materials.
“We do reimburse our bakers up to $100 a year on decorating classes. A lot of our bakers, take cookie decorating and cake decorating, and things like that. So even … if you don’t feel you’re at that level, a lot of baker’s start at cookies and brownies and cupcakes and work their way up to the cakes and take classes in between. So we’re happy to have all abilities,” Campbell explained.
She also noted that the caseworkers do their best to provide feedback from the celebrations and that sometimes bakers receive thank you notes from the children themselves.
Smiles and Birthday Cakes
Comcast Newsmaker
By Emily Gyure
Thursday, April 21, 2022
Helping to bring smiles & birthday cakes is the goal of Cake4Kids who bakes and delivers free birthday cakes for underserved children who might not otherwise receive one. These individual customized cakes remind children how special they really are.
Hosted By: Ellee Pai Hong
Produces By: Greater Chicago Newsmaker Team
Organization provides birthday cake for children who would otherwise go without
KMTV 3 News Now Omaha
By Mary Nelson
Wednesday, February 2, 2022
OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — For kids in foster care, who are living in group homes, are homeless, or have survived the unimaginable, birthday cake may not be top-of-mind.
But at Cake4Kids, it's understood how powerful that can be.
The organization has 20 chapters nationwide. Stacy Newmaster became the Omaha area's Cake4Kids ambassador last year.
Speaking about the impact the program has on children's lives, she said, "It puts a smile on their face and it gives them the self-esteem that somebody cares. It may not be anybody that they know, but somebody does care."
The organization works with partners including foster care agencies, homeless and domestic violence shelters and refugee organizations, which all make sure the cakes get to the children.
Last year, Cake4Kids received more than 8,800 requests nationwide. By adding chapters, like Omaha's, they hope to serve more children in 2022.
"Some of our volunteers are cottage bakers," Newmaster said. "Even ones that own bakeries are allowed to help out, too, or be volunteers. So it's just anybody and everybody."
In addition to volunteers, Newmaster would like to connect with local children's organizations and agencies. For that, and to donate to Cake4Kids, visit cake4kids.org.
Baking birthday cakes for kids who otherwise would have none
CBS 2 Idaho News
By Brent Hunsaker
Wednesday, November 24, 2021
This birthday cake was presented to Interfaith Sanctuary's Family Shelter for a 6-year-old girl's birthday. Cake4Kids volunteers will bake a cake for any child in foster care or in shelters in the Treasure Valley.
NAMPA, Idaho (CBS 2) — “The cake we’re baking today is for a young girl who is six,” explained Mabry Brice, a volunteer baker with Cake4Kids.
Mabry Brice starts with a cake mix. No sin with that. But beyond the usual eggs and oil, Mabry adds her own touches such as milk instead of water and a 2/3 cup of sour cream. She said, “It just helps to enhance the flavors.”
The bakers donate both time and materials. There’s no reimbursement for the ingredients. Everything they use to make the cakes comes out of their own pantry and is paid for with their own money.
“I have five kids. And I love kids. So, to make a kid happy is kind of what I live for.”
The program impressed Courtney DeYager, a foster mom who recently got a cake for one of the girls in her care. “On the one hand, it’s just a cake,” said Courtney. “But on the other hand, you open up that box and this kiddo’s face lights up because their name is spelled out in icing with ‘Happy Birthday’ and figurines that they asked for. It’s really special.”
Cake4Kids volunteers receive a $500 Pay It Forward from Angela Phillips with Mountain America Credit Union.
Courtney nominated Cake4Kids for a Pay It Forward.
Receiving the $500 donation from Angela Phillips with Mountain America Credit Union were Tracy Privari and Gwen Clark, the Cake4Kids ambassadors in the Treasure Valley. They started the Treasure Valley chapter back in February.
Gwen said, “I’m the behind-the-scenes girl. I’m helping partner with the agencies and I’m helping recruit bakers.”
In just a short time, Gwen and Tracy have signed on more than 100 bakers. “And we could use more,” said Tracy. “You have to have more bakers than you’re ever going to have requests. So that’s why we’re always recruiting volunteers.”
No back to Mabry’s cake. After sitting overnight in the freezer, it’s ready for the frosting and the decorations. For that, she’s enlisted her 17-year-old daughter, Amberly. She will create the princess, flowers, and other features that will “wow” the birthday girl.
Mother and daughter both took a class in cake design, but Mabry admits her daughter is the artist.
The next day, the cake is delivered to the Interfaith Sanctuary in Boise. Carla Velez, the family shelter program supervisor said, “We love Cake4Kids. Basically, it allows them to be home, to feel that they are important, not just for their parents and family, but also for the entire program. They get to share this with other kids in our program, with other families. It gets the kids out of their rooms. They get together in the dining room and share. I think that’s the most important thing: Being able to have access to these delicious cakes every month.”
COVID and privacy concerns prevent Mabry from giving the cake directly to the child or even seeing the birthday party. Still, the satisfaction of a cake well made and just knowing how it will make that child smile is reward enough. Mabry told us, “It’s not about the recognition. It’s just about knowing that someone is happy cakes make everyone happy.”
If you would like to join the ranks of Cake4Kids volunteers, just click here.
'Everybody deserves a smile on their birthday' | These volunteer bakers are making sure every child's birthday is special
WUSA9 Washington, D.C.
By Marcella Robertson
Wednesday, November 3, 2021 6:51 am EDT (Updated November 3, 2021 8:31 am EDT)
Hundreds of people in Virginia bake free cakes for children who may not otherwise get a cake on their birthday. They are part of the non-profit, Cake4Kids.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Some of the smallest things we take for granted can mean the world to someone else. Something as simple as a birthday cake.
Cake4Kids is a non-profit organization that originally started in California. But when Mary Campbell heard about their mission, she knew she had to bring it to Northern Virginia.
"It really struck me that there are children out there that don't get birthday cakes. It struck me as a mom too, it must be awful to not be able to get your child a cake," said Campbell, who brought the organization to Virginia in 2019.
The non-profit partners with organizations that help children. They provide cakes free of cost for children on their birthday or if they are celebrating a big accomplishment. The organization started with a focus mainly on children in foster care. Over the years they have expanded to help children who are refugees, or even those in domestic violence shelters.
"Really any place where a child hasn't had the best start in life, we deliver birthday cakes to them," said Julie Eades, with the California Cake4Kids chapter.
It's National Volunteer Week, a time to appreciate the power of volunteer service & celebrate our volunteer bakers 👩🍳💫Thanks to all who've donated money, time, or goods to Cake4Kids. If you enjoy baking & have a bit of spare time to give back check us out https://t.co/ir3lBLcsJz pic.twitter.com/xGfhf1y6gh
— Cake4Kids.org (@Cake4Kids) April 10, 2019
Kate McKenzie is one of the 450 volunteer bakers in Virginia. The kids can pick out their theme and flavor and the hundreds of people who volunteer their time, execute their vision. McKenzie, who first joined the organization right before the pandemic, says the most important ingredient is love.
"They don't have to be perfect. You don't have to be a professional baker. Box mixes and sprinkle some love on top and you're going to make this kid's life very happy," she said.
For some of the children, it is the first birthday cake they have ever received. A sweet gesture that will stick with some of these kids for the rest of their lives.
"A birthday cake might feel like a luxury. Let us give you that. Let us help. These kids deserve it and it makes them smile. Everybody deserves to smile on their birthday," McKenzie said.
Cake4Kids Northern Virginia is working on expanding to Prince William County. The organization is always in need of bakers but is also looking for more organizations to partner with to be able to reach more children.
Organization Bakes Cakes for Underserved Kids in Northern Virginia
NBC4 Washington
Wednesday, August 18, 8:31 pm
One local organization is making sure every child can celebrate their birthday! #HarrisHeroes @Cake4Kids @RealLeonHarris pic.twitter.com/AC4lHZigqg
— Michelle Montgomery (@Chelle_Francis) August 23, 2021
Cake4Kids was featured on the popular NBC4 Washington segment Harris’ Heroes! Every week, veteran Washington anchor Leon Harris shines the spotlight on the work that’s being done by people and organizations to make where we live a little brighter.
Cake4Kids Baker Melissa Brown Featured in Fairfax, VA's June 2021 "Cityscene" Newsletter!
Cake4Kids Baker Melissa Brown was recently featured in Fairfax, VA’s June 2021 issue of the "Cityscene” newsletter as a “City Samaritan” — recognizing residents who lift up their community — for her volunteer work with Cake4Kids!
Check out the feature on pages 3-5 of the newsletter here or download the PDF here!
Utah volunteers bake custom birthday desserts for underserved children
KSL.com
By Megan Christensen
Wednesday, May 18, 2021 8:09 pm
OGDEN — Volunteers in northern Utah are helping underserved children and youth celebrate their birthdays by baking them their very own, custom-made desserts for their special day.
Cake4Kids, a nonprofit organization, opened a Northern Utah chapter on April 8. According to its ambassador, Becky Carroll, the children who qualify for these cakes are in foster care, domestic violence shelters, homeless shelters and low-income after-school programs.
Carroll contacts agencies that work with these children, and the caseworkers from the agencies will then reach out to the kids to find out what birthday treat they would like. One little boy requested granola bars. Another little girl wanted strawberry flamingo cupcakes.
"I think that, as adults, we often don't enjoy celebrating our birthday as much. We forget that it's a really important thing for kids, and especially kids who are in difficult situations," Carroll said…
KSL.com
By Megan Christensen
Wednesday, May 18, 2021 8:09 pm
OGDEN — Volunteers in northern Utah are helping underserved children and youth celebrate their birthdays by baking them their very own, custom-made desserts for their special day.
Cake4Kids, a nonprofit organization, opened a Northern Utah chapter on April 8. According to its ambassador, Becky Carroll, the children who qualify for these cakes are in foster care, domestic violence shelters, homeless shelters and low-income after-school programs.
Carroll contacts agencies that work with these children, and the caseworkers from the agencies will then reach out to the kids to find out what birthday treat they would like. One little boy requested granola bars. Another little girl wanted strawberry flamingo cupcakes.
"I think that, as adults, we often don't enjoy celebrating our birthday as much. We forget that it's a really important thing for kids, and especially kids who are in difficult situations," Carroll said.
"Their birthdays can be forgotten or just totally ignored, and so to honor them with something that they specifically chose — and we always put their name on the cake — I think it just helps to help them have a special day and a happy memory around birthdays, rather than just being in a shelter and having it be forgotten."
Carroll pointed out that some of these kids are taken out of their homes and don't take their possessions with them, so to have a birthday cake made especially for them helps them have a good day.
Elise Dearing decorates birthday cupcakes for an underserved child as part of a new nonprofit organization, Cake4Kids. (Photo: Elise Dearing)
For privacy reasons, the volunteers are only told the first name and the age of the child they are baking for. They then drop the treat off at the agencies, Carroll said.
The volunteers do not need to be professional bakers, though they should have acceptable decorating abilities.
Volunteer Myranda Hackley found a love for cake decorating a few years ago while working at the Walmart bakery. She quit that job to go to school but participates in Cake4Kids to keep up her creativity and to help these children have a great birthday and get a deserved treat.
Hackley said when she dropped off her first two cakes, the caseworkers were giddy with excitement.
"I'm excited to keep baking, and I'm really happy to take on more of these cakes for the future," Hackley said.
These cupcakes were baked by a Cake4Kids volunteer for an underserved child on their birthday. The new-to-Utah nonprofit organization provides custom-made desserts for underserved children on their birthdays. (Photo: Jill Scharrenberg)
Katy Bonds, executive director of the Box Elder Family Support Center, said the mother of the girl who requested pink flamingo cupcakes was thrilled to receive that service and that the cupcakes were a hit.
"The parents are so grateful," Bonds said. "And it's such a surprise, a pleasant surprise, to get a free birthday cake. Because cakes are expensive, and a lot of our families that we are talking to don't have a lot of money for a cake, so this is like a huge burden to take off their shoulders. So it's a blessing to them."
Those who are interested in volunteering for Cake4Kids can visit cakes4kids.org and go through an hourlong online orientation. Donations are also accepted by visiting the website.
Agencies that would like to work with Cake4Kids to get cakes to children in their community can email Carroll at becky@cake4kids.org. The Northern Utah chapter covers from Ogden to Logan.
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Cake4Kids Boulder seeks more bakers to create sweet memories for foster, homeless kids
The Daily Camera
By April Morganroth
Monday, May 17, 2021 8:25 pm (Updated May 18, 2021 11:27 am)
Amy Klein, Cakes4Kids ambassador for Northern Colorado, sits for a portrait in her kitchen at her home in Niwot on Monday. The organization makes and donates birthday cakes to foster kids. (Matthew Jonas/Staff Photographer)
Boulder-based Cake4Kids is expanding and looking for bakers to help create birthday and graduation cakes for youth in domestic violence and homeless shelters as well as foster kids.
Ambassador of Northern Colorado Cake4Kids Amy Klein said the Boulder chapter of Cake4Kids is expanding and in need of help in addition to donations.
“Some of our bakers bake once a month and some have already baked 25 or more cakes, but we just really need more volunteers willing to bake for these kids,” Klein said.
She added, “It could just be that special spark in any kiddo’s life, whose life probably hasn’t been overly fair to them up to this point — we can provide some magic for one day.”
Klein was introduced last summer by a friend to the national nonprofit and by the fall she had the first Colorado chapter up and running.
“We made our first delivery in November and since then have delivered over 250 cakes and treats to underserved kids in the greater Boulder area,” Klein said.
Cake4Kids started more than 10 years ago in California by Libby Gruender who in 2010 had read a news story about a recently placed foster girl who had never received a birthday cake until her foster mother made her one. Since that day, Gruender partnered with volunteers and agencies across the U.S. to bake cakes for underserved children.
Now, spanning across 11 states, the nonprofit has delivered more than 25,000 free birthday and graduation cakes.
Klein, a mother of three, said she volunteered to open the first Colorado chapter because “birthday cakes are magical for children and it motivated me as a mom to bring that same smile I see on my children’s faces to the faces of other kids who otherwise may not have gotten a birthday cake.”
“We believe the simple gesture of a birthday cake has the ability to make the child feel valued and raises self-esteem,” she said.
Some of the agencies Northern Colorado Cake4Kids serve include: A Precious Child; Access Opportunity; Sister Carmen Community Center; TGHTR (formerly Attention Homes); as well as several domestic violence shelters and homeless shelters.
“Right now we are working on expanding our chapter into Fort Collins and beyond and also looking for bakers who want to help us serve our community,” Klein said. “The cakes are completely customized to the child and it’s so fun to see what they come up with.”
She said the top cake design requests include unicorns and Denver sports teams.
Despite kick starting during the coronavirus pandemic, Klein said the support from the community has been “truly amazing and we’re thrilled because people have stepped up in incredible ways.”
Auguste Escoffier School Of Culinary Arts in Boulder scheduled webinars “for our bakers to teach them how to bake better and provided decoration tips — like for example the frosted lettering on the cakes.”
In December, Niwot-based DRF Team real estate partnered up with Klein to host a gingerbread house contest and donated the proceeds to the nonprofit so it could provide treats during the holidays to foster youth.
She said, “We are still fairly new and looking into a number of different ways to expand and fundraise but will be partnering with DRF Reality again this Christmas season.”
Klein said she wants residents who are thinking about about volunteering “to know that you don’t have to be a pastry chef or professional baker to be one of our volunteers — you just have to have basic baking skills and have the heart to serve these kids.”
“The hardest part is not seeing the joy in these kids faces because we don’t get to delivery the cakes to them personally due to privacy laws but knowing that a child is smiling because of a cake we made is by far rewarding in itself,” Klein said.
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