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Welcome to Cake4Kids Willamette Valley!

(Formerly the Polk/Marion Chapter)

Stephanie

Tell us a little about yourself.

I grew up in California and earned my MBA from Troy University. I first found Cake4Kids in 2017 when I was living in the East Bay, and I loved the idea of using my baking hobby to make a difference for underserved youth. I signed up as a volunteer baker right away!

After my husband and I moved to the Salem area, I knew I wanted to help bring the program to our community so more kids could have something special to celebrate.

Outside of volunteering, you can usually find me hiking, taking a good nap, or spending time with my family.

What or who inspired your love of baking?

Birthdays were a big deal in my household growing up. It wasn’t until I got older, I realized that not everyone experienced birthdays the same way we did. So I started baking birthday cakes in high school to celebrate friend’s birthdays and my love of baking grew with every smile on their face.

What’s your favorite thing to bake?

I love baking 3D cakes! I like having a mound of cake that you can bring to life with just frosting.

What is the first thing you ever baked?

A dump truck out of Twinkies for my friend’s birthday…...it was definitely a #bakingfail:

Jessica

Tell us a little about yourself

I am married and have one child, and 3 dogs (husky, pit bull, and golden retriever). I enjoy spending time outside, with my family we are often seen going on multiple walks through the day. We live in the Willamette Valley which is a great place where it is an easy drive to the high desert, ocean coast, and close to many vineyards. I enjoy running. My daughter is still young so I have the pleasure on easily bringing her along on runs in a jogging stroller (though I would say it was a lot easier when she was an infant). I try to run in a 5k or 10k each month. I have run 1 marathon and hope to run more in the future. 

Why did you want to join Cake4Kids in your area?

I had the pleasure of joining as a baker early when our chapter was created. I hit a point in my life where I had an abundance of baking supplies, and not enough people in my life who wanted fun cakes. A coworker introduced me to Cake4kids and I thought it was a wonderful organization that would allow me to bake different things, while also supporting local kids. After the birth of my daughter I found myself baking less, but I still had a strong desire to continue to support Cake4Kids. I transitioned into a role of event coordinator to help the chapter volunteers connect with each other. Recently I have stepped into the Ambassador role to help our chapter to continue to thrive. 

If you’re interested in baking, please visit the Volunteer page!

If you are a caseworker or work at an agency and are interested in partnering with Cake4Kids to receive free cakes for your youth, please visit Who We Help to request our services!

If you still have questions, please contact me at stephanieh@cake4kids.org.

Ready to Help?

Donate today or sign up to volunteer with Cake4Kids Willamette Valley!

Delivering smiles to children one birthday cake at a time®

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