SEASIDE, Calif. (KION) - Cake4Kids is spreading smiles to underserved kids and frosting to cakes in Monterey County. On Tuesday, the non-profit delivered its 1,000 cakes.
"Kids need to know that they're loved and valued, and I think that's what these cakes are doing," says Jen Ibarra, the volunteer ambassador for Cake4Kids.
Cake4Kids says it's the little things that mean the world to kids who don't grow up with the simple luxuries in life.
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.
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…
Monterey County Weekly
By Celia Jiménez Feb 13, 2021
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…
P.O. Box 2863, Sunnyvale, CA 94087 | (408) 752-2538 | info@cake4kids.org | Tax ID 45-3148916