Giving Back Sweetly, with Cupcakes

All these great articles about , the and have me wanting to share a non-profit charity I’ve been involved with for almost two years. In September 2010, I read this article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel about BirthdayCakes4Free, a group of volunteer bakers who provide free birthday cakes to financially or socially disadvantaged children and seniors. I contacted the founder of the Santa Cruz Chapter, Elicia Hammond and within two weeks I had been assigned my very first birthday cake order for a 14-year-old girl living in a group home right here in Watsonville. After hearing how much she loved the cake, I was hooked and have been baking for “BC4F” ever since. 

The sole mission of BC4F is to help celebrate a special day, like a birthday, and to let the recipient know they matter and someone cares. Most requests come from the case workers of children who have never had a birthday cake before or for whatever reason, whose families can’t afford one. Recipients can choose the type: cake or cupcakes, flavors of cake and frosting, decorating theme, or favorite colors.

In August 2011, I was assigned a challenge: create a cake for an 8-year-old boy who loved SpongeBob SquarePants, specifically his pet snail Gary. Having never watched the cartoon, I had to become an expert in a hurry (see picture). Needless to say, I now know more than I ever wanted to know about SpongeBob!

The last two months I’ve made cupcakes for a low-income housing project in Watsonville. In February, the social worker requested a Valentine theme so I made chocolate cupcakes swirled high with vanilla buttercream frosting and pink and red fondant hearts, with sprinkles of course. This month she wanted the cupcakes to be a surprise so I created the ones shown in the picture. 

You don’t have to be a professional baker to become a BC4F volunteer. All you need is a love for baking and wanting to put a smile on the faces of children and seniors in need. You don’t even need a licensed kitchen since volunteers are protected by the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act. BC4F does ask that you keep a clean kitchen and are careful with raw foods like eggs so that all cakes are baked with food safety in mind. 

If this sounds like fun and something you’d like to get involved in, contact Elicia Hammond by email at Elicia@birthdaycakes4free.com or go to the BC4F website for more information http://www.birthdaycakes4free.com/default.html. There is never any pressure to take any orders and you volunteer for only what you have time and an interest for. We’ve had free (optional) cake decorating classes at Woodworm in Santa Cruz and have had a few casual gatherings (also optional) to meet other enthusiastic bakers since it’s always nice to put faces with names. If you know a child or senior who would love a special cake for their birthday, there’s an order form and information on the website for that too, and best of all, it’s free!