Feb15

cake4kids.

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Meet Cake4Kids: The Nonprofit That Bakes Birthday Cakes for Foster and At-Risk Children

 Inspired by an article profiling a young girl in the foster care system who burst into tears upon receiving her first birthday cake, Cake4Kids founder Libby Gruender recognized that such a simple gesture could have a profound impact on the lives of underprivileged children. IIn 2010, Cake4Kids launched as a grassroots effort in Sunnyvale, California, with a handful of volunteers baking 13 cakes for a few agencies that support youth. Today, the organization encompasses hundreds of volunteers, serves over 400 social services agencies, and provides over 3,000 custom, homemade cakes or sweets for at-risk kids (ages 1-24) on an annual basis — with more than 40,000 treats delivered in the past 13 years

While a birthday cake may seem like a simple gesture to many, each baked good serves as a sweet reminder to the children and youth in the U.S. foster care system that they are seen, cherished, and not forgotten.

Per the organization’s website, children served by this mission include “youth in foster care, group homes, homeless shelters, transitional and low income housing, domestic violence or human trafficking shelters, substance abuse programs, and refugees.” Agencies partnering with Cake4Kids must serve at-risk or underserved youth, be categorized as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization or government agency, and have offices in an area served by Cake4Kids.

Three years after Cake4Kids began, Gruender sadly passed away, but her mission continues to live on: The organization has since expanded across the country, with chapters all across the United States.

For more information, visit the Cake4Kids website to learn how you can volunteer, start a chapter in your area, and donate.

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“how far that little candle throws his beams! so shines a good deed in a weary world.”

-william shakespeare, the merchant of venice

 

 

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-source credit: julia diddy

78 responses »

  25. Oh, my, I can so imagine how special such a birthday cake is for a child that is used to have not much in their life. Wow, what a beautiful thing to do. Their joy and gratitude are so honest and true.

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  33. Brilliant and wonderfully thoughtful. Something many of us do not think about. I had my son take me to the grocery yesterday (we had a big snow storm the night before) and I purchased a cake for one of our resident Knit Witters who will be 83 today. Many here don’t have family close or attentive so I try where I’m able to to make a little fuss over another invisible portion of our society. They can get as excited as a four year old. I’m going to check and see if we have a chapter here in the boonies and see what can be done. Thanks for the heads up. I’m no longer up to much baking but I can still find a way to make someone cheerful.

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