TheatreWorks Silicon Valley
Friday, December 18, 2020
LEARN MORE → theatreworks.org/simplegifts 🕯 Throughout the run of SIMPLE GIFTS, join us as we highlight organizations in our community that provide simple gifts all year long with their incredible work. In this episode, TheatreWorks' Director of Community Partnerships Jeffrey Lo speaks to Cake 4 Kids Executive Director Julie Eades!
If the video above doesn’t work, you can watch the segment here.
The Stanford Daily
By Kiana George on August 27, 2020
Let’s talk about cake. Cake is the product of layering cooked batter, moist frosting and varying toppings. It comes in every flavor imaginable — something as simple as dark chocolate fudge to something as strange as sweet olive oil. But cake is much more than just a dessert — it evokes a level of joy no other food can…
Silicon Valley Nonprofits
Posted Monday, March 9, 2020
If the video above doesn’t work, you can watch the segment here.
On February 22, 2020, Cake4Kids was honored by the Sunnyvale Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce at the 55th Annual Murphy Awards Dinner.
Councilmember Russ Melton presented us with the award for Outstanding Community Contribution. We spoke about our amazing and selfless volunteers and proudly accepted this award.
This award belongs to all of you who bake in Santa Clara County. Thank you!
Cake4Kids received an award for Outstanding Community Contribution 2020 at the 55th Annual Murphy Awards Dinner on February 22, 2020 in Sunnyvale, CA
(Left to right) Keith Paulson, Claire Campodonico (Cake4Kids Volunteer), Russ Melton (Councilmember), and Julie Eades (Cake4Kids Executive Director) at the 55th Annual Murphy Awards Dinner on February 22, 2020 in Sunnyvale, CA
Russ Melton (Councilmember) and Julie Eades (Cake4Kids Executive Director) at the 55th Annual Murphy Awards Dinner on February 22, 2020 in Sunnyvale, CA
Keith Paulson and Claire Campodonico (Cake4Kids Volunteer) at the 55th Annual Murphy Awards Dinner on February 22, 2020 in Sunnyvale, CA
Cake4Kids donated treats to our agency partner, Performing Stars of Marin, for this amazing event!
ABC7 News
By Jobina Fortson
Friday, February 21, 2020
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Performing Stars is a nonprofit helping underserved kids in Marin County achieve their potential.
The organization hosted an event at Lucasfilm where students learned about the Tuskegee airmen. The airmen, who fought in World War II, became the first black pilots in the U.S. military.
Performing Stars students then got to come face to face with today's black pilots, aviation professionals, and even an astronaut.
Every speaker on the stage is continuing to make black history. They desperately hope by sharing their experiences, they'll encourage other young minds to take flight.
The industry needs them. Every airline is experiencing a major pilot and technician shortage.
A Boeing 2019 report projects that 804,000 new civil aviation pilots, 769,000 new maintenance technicians, and 914,000 new cabin crew will be needed to fly and maintain the world fleet over the next 20 years.
The diversity numbers are even more stunning. According to Alaska Airlines, black female pilots make up about one half of 1 percent of all professional pilots across the industry.
"I have had a lot of firsts," Alaska Airlines Captain Tara Wright said. "It's sort of interesting that in 2018, I was part of the first all African American female flight crew for Alaska Airlines."
Captain Wright's flight traveled from SFO to Portland. She's an Oakland native and has girls believing a woman's place is at 30,000 feet.
Students were beaming after learning about careers in aviation.
"I want to be a pilot," Akasha Moore, a 5-year-old Performing Stars student, said.
"I love brownies and flying in the sky," Kashmeer Gomez, a 4-year-old Performing Stars student said.
Flying is expensive and not always accessible. Courtland Savage developed a nonprofit that's finding a way around that.
"With Fly for the Culture, we're promoting diversity and inclusion in the aviation industry," Courtland Savage, pilot and CEO of Fly for the Culture said. "We're doing that by taking young children up on free flights on a smaller aircraft. I want every kid to get a chance to fly."
Lieutenant Colonel Jason Harris hails from Oakland as well. He said every time he flies in and out of that airport, he gets chills. He wants other black children to one day have that same experience.
"I stand on the shoulders of giants just like those original Tuskegee airmen," Lt. Col. Harris said. "I want these young people to have the opportunity to see that I'm just like them, and to show them that they have the opportunity to stand on my shoulders and all those that were on that stage with me today."
If the video above doesn’t work, you can watch the segment here.
The Silicon Valley Voice
Erika Towne
February 6, 2020, 08:00 AM
The Sunnyvale nonprofit Cake4Kids doesn’t have an official location, but the footprint that it leaves on Bay Area youth living in foster care is immeasurable. For the past 10 years, Cake4Kids has partnered with a variety of local agencies that work with kids in the foster care system, group homes, homeless shelters and domestic violence shelters bringing them birthday cakes on a day that is otherwise forgotten…
September 17, 2019
SUNNYVALE, Calif. - For many children, a birthday is a special day filled with fun, family — and birthday cake. But for foster children and other at-risk youth, their special day is not always so.
Cake4Kids, a nonprofit organization founded in 2010 by Sunnyvale resident Libby Gruender, is celebrating its ninth birthday on September 17. The organization partners with Santa Clara County human and social services agencies to deliver birthday cakes, cupcakes or other treats to local at-risk youth. For many, it is the first birthday cake they have ever received. The cakes are baked by a dedicated group of volunteer bakers from Santa Clara County, who use their talents to put smiles on children's faces.
Since September 2010, Cake4Kids has served Santa Clara County underserved youth by:
Baking and delivering 8,260 cakes
Partnering with 54 local agencies to help ensure these youth have a birthday to remember
Growing its dedicated corps of volunteer bakers to more than 450
"The simple gift of a cake means so much more to these children than just a sweet treat. Our goal is to raise the children's self-esteem and confidence on their special day. It may be just a cake but the children we bake for know someone took the time and made the effort to do something special just for them," said Julie Eades, Executive Director of Cake4Kids. "We are so grateful to our wonderful volunteer bakers for all they do for the children - they are our secret ingredient!"
Cake4Kids currently operates in 10 counties in California and in Fairfax County, Virginia and has baked in excess of 15,000 cakes to underserved children since its founding.
Local human and social services agencies submit cake requests through an online portal, providing the child's requests, including their flavor preferences as well as their interests such as superheroes, NFL teams or the ever-popular Elsa from the Frozen movie. Bakers sign up to bake the cakes and deliver them to the agency
"I've always loved baking cakes. Then I met Libby when our boys were young, and I heard her idea for Cake4Kids," said Christina Cary, one of Cake4Kids longest-serving volunteers. "I knew it was a way to combine my hobby with helping foster children, and I signed up immediately. I just imagine if my own son didn't get a birthday cake, and I'm glad I can make one for another child."
To celebrate its ninth birthday, Cake4Kids is hosting a get-together for its local volunteers and bakers at a local establishment in Sunnyvale. For more information, visit Cake4Kids.org.
Berkeleyside NOSH
By Katie Lauter
March 5, 2019, 2 p.m.
Imagine growing up never having a birthday cake.
For the majority of us, the thought is difficult, if not inconceivable, to imagine. Most of us are fortunate to have celebrated our childhood birthdays with some kind of baked confections. But there are many children who will never receive a single birthday cake in their lives. A nonprofit called Cake4Kids is helping to change that…
September 17, 2018, California — Today, in honor of their very first cake being made and delivered on September 17, 2010, Cake4Kids is celebrating its 8th anniversary.
For the past eight years, in 10 counties across California including San Francisco, Contra Costa, Alameda, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Marin, Fresno, San Diego, Napa & Sacramento Counties, Cake4Kids’ non-profit organization has baked and delivered over 10,000 birthday cakes for foster children and at-risk youth.
Cake4Kids was founded in September 2010 in Sunnyvale, CA by Libby Gruender to provide free birthday cakes to foster children and at-risk youth in her community. What Libby started in 2010 as a grassroots effort with a few volunteers baking 13 cakes for a few agencies in her neighborhood has turned into a robust operation with hundreds of volunteers currently baking for over 140 agencies. Sadly, Libby passed away in 2013, but Cake4Kids strives to keep her mission going. Every year Cake4Kids recruits new volunteers, partners with more agencies, and provides more and more children with birthday cakes.
Cake4Kids supports underprivileged children and youth through partnerships with social and human services agencies, such as foster care programs, group homes, domestic violence or human trafficking programs, and homeless or low-income housing, with or without a parent.
Cake4Kids is powered by a small staff and a talented, compassionate group of volunteers, most of whom are home-bakers. There are no minimum volunteer commitments - volunteers choose how often they want to bake a cake and which cake theme to fulfill from the Cake4Kids’ online platform. Each volunteer then bakes in their home and delivers the cake to one of the agencies Cake4Kids serves. Cake4Kids is looking to grow and add more agencies and bakers to their team as well as non-baker volunteers that have operational, communications and fundraising skills.
To find out more about Cake4Kids, please visit: www.cake4kids.org or find us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram & Pinterest. You may also contact Julie Eades, Executive Director, Cake4Kids, Tel: 650-521-6437, julie@cake4kids.org
Note to editors- possible photo/on-camera opportunities may be available TODAY:
On September 17, 2018, we will deliver 8 cakes to underserved children between the ages of 4 and 19 years old to a variety of agencies, including: Monument Crisis in Contra Costa County, Bill Wilson Center and KAFPA in Santa Clara County, Casa de Amparo in San Diego and Transitions Children's Services, Golden State Family Services, and North Star Family Center in Fresno.
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San Jose Sharks
December 14, 2016 3:09 p.m.
The Sharks Foundation hosts their annual bowling event with the players, coaches, and broadcasters
If the video above doesn’t work, you can watch the segment here.
August 8, 2016
Bakers volunteer for the nonprofit organization Cake4Kids, which was started by Libby Gruender in Sunnyvale in 2010. Gruender died in 2013, but the small organization she founded now includes about 400 home bakers, who this year are expected to frost 2,000 birthday cakes for children who otherwise wouldn't be blowing out any candles.
If the audio above doesn’t work, you can listen to the segment here.
Foodheavenmag.com
July 27, 2016
This article was sourced from NBC News
This is an uplifting story of Mother, Elaine Karpen and her Daughter, Samantha recently baked a Mine-craft themed cake which was prepared using the kitchen of a Los Altos community centre. The cake was not only fun and colourful but was baked with a lot of kindness too.
The girl they made the cake for was one they had never met. This girl would be very unlikely to receive a cake on her birthday were it not for this loving pair. Mother, Elaine, explained that when she was young someone did a similar thing for her when family times were turbulent. Even after 32 years she remembers that compassionate gesture.
The wonderful thing about this story is that its not all that uncommon, many children like this girl, like Karpen get a birthday cake from minds and hearts alike.
“I suspect we’ll end up this year at about 2,200-2,300 cakes,” explains Julie Eades, Executive Director of Cake4Kids. “Our mission is to bake a custom birthday cake for a child. That’s it.”
Cake4Kids was born in 2010 and founded by Libby Gruender (who sadly passed away in 2013). Cakes4Kids partners with social service agencies in America to discover who, for financial, social, or domestic reasons, will perhaps not have anyone to buy or bake them a cake for their birthday.
Julie Eades explained a situation they came across last year; “We had a youth last year who was 20. He’d never ever had a birthday cake…He couldn’t believe the cake was for him because he’d never had a cake for himself.”
This incredible non-profit company have a database of over 600 volunteer bakers who are up for making a cake for a vulnerable child’s birthday and it’s always a memorable one at that! The child is part anonymous for privacy reasons, the baker will only ever know their first name and they don’t meet the child or are present when the child sees the cake.
Even with this safety barrier the uplifting truth is that children often send thank you cards which are always sent on to the baker themselves.
With Elaine Karpen’s cake, their was an exception in this case. She delivered her cake to Jayla, an 8 year old girl who loves Mine-craft! “It was great to see Jayla’s smile,” Karpen says.
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By Garvin Thomas
July 21, 2016 (Updated January 12, 2018 12:18 am)
If the video above doesn’t work, you can watch the segment here.
The best birthday cakes are a magical combination of food, color, and fun. The pink and purple, Minecraft-themed cake that Elaine Karpen and her daughter, Samantha, recently prepared using the kitchen of a Los Altos community center was all of those things. It also had a whole lot of kindness baked into it as well.
That's because the girl Karpen was making the cake for, is one she doesn't know. A girl who would likely not have a cake on her birthday were it not for the one. Karpen said a stranger did the same thing for her when she was young and times were tough for her family.
"32 years later I still remember that cake," Karpen said.
As great as all that is, though, perhaps the best thing about the cake she and her daughter baked is that it's not the only one like it. Far from it.
"I suspect we'll end up this year at about 2,200-2,300 cakes," said Julie Eades, Executive Director of Cake4Kids. "Our mission is to bake a custom birthday cake for a child. That's it."
Started in 2010 by Libby Gruender (who passed away in 2013), Cakes4Kids partners with social service agencies around the Bay Area to identify young clients who, for financial, social, or domestic reasons, might not have anyone who can bake or buy a cake for their birthday.
"We had a youth last year who was 20. He'd never ever had a birthday cake," Eades said. "He couldn't believe the came was for him because he'd never had a cake for himself."
The non-profit now has a database of more than 600 volunteer bakers willing to make a needy child's birthday a memorable one. Because of privacy issues, though, the bakers never know more than the child's first name and are never around when the child sees and eats their cake.
Eades says, however, they do get many, touching thank you cards from children. Those are always forwarded on to the baker.
With Karpen's cake, however, an exception was made.
She was able to deliver her cake to Jayla, the young Minecraft-loving 8-year-old who requested it.
"I was great to see Jayla's smile," Karpen says. "It makes all the work worthwhile."
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Cake4Kids volunteers bake 1,800 cakes a year -- with love
Danville-San Ramon
By Dolores Fox Ciardelli
Uploaded: Thu, Jul 14, 2016, 3:15 pm
The foster mom did what came naturally when her new child had a birthday: She baked her a chocolate cake.
When the girl came home from school and saw the cake, she burst into tears. The foster mom said she was sorry for upsetting her and explained she'd meant to make her happy. She offered to bake a different cake, if the girl didn't like chocolate.
"It's not that," she replied. "I've just never had a birthday cake."
Libby Gruender of Sunnyvale read about that incident in 2010 and pledged to provide birthday cakes for children in foster care so they would each feel loved on their special day. She founded Cake4Kids to carry out the mission…
East Bay Times
By Beth Jensen
May 27, 2016 at 3:41 p.m. | UPDATED: August 15, 2016 at 9:15 a.m.
DANVILLE — Each month around the Bay Area, scores of home bakers rev up their mixers and take up their spatulas to whip up a little something special — birthday cakes for children they’ll never meet.
Each confection is a custom order, happily decorated with dinosaurs, ponies, superheroes, Justin Bieber’s face — whatever the recipient loves. Each creation will be a rare personal treat for an underprivileged child. For some, it will be his or her first birthday cake ever…
Baker Dana Slomich’s “Frozen” creation is seen here at a previous Cake-Off4Kids Competition (Photo courtesy Kelly Huang Photography/2014)
The Mercury News
May 10, 2016 12:04 p.m. (Updated: September 22, 2016 10:53 p.m.)
Amateur cake designers are invited to participate in a contest that tests their baking and creativity for a sweet cause.
Cake4Kids bakes and delivers birthday cakes to foster children and at risk youth, who wouldn’t otherwise have a birthday celebration.
To reward volunteers and raise awareness, the organization every year hosts a cake contest, which is open to Cake4Kids volunteers and the general public. Professional bakers do not participate.
This will be the organization’s sixth contest. The South Bay Cake-Off4Kids is set for May 22 from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Quinlan Community Center, 10185 N. Stelling Road in Cupertino.
Bakers can choose to enter various categories and the winners receive a cash prize. The event features refreshments, kids’ activities, a silent auction and unlimited cake tasting of all entered cakes.
The entry fee for bakers is $15. Tickets are $30 for adults, $15 for children ages 7-14 and free for those under age 7.
Since its inception in 2010, Cake4Kids has expanded to six counties, baked and delivered nearly 5,000 cakes, donated more than 15,000 hours and used more than 9,000 pounds of sugar, according to the organization’s website.
To register for the CakeOff, visit cake4kids.org/events
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May 10, 2016, 10:00 am
CUPERTINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Intero Foundation, a non-profit devoted to helping children in need, announced their latest round of funding supported by Intero’s offices in Los Gatos, San Jose (Willow Glen) and Saratoga. The Foundation donated $47,500 to local nonprofits that support low-income and disadvantaged youth…
Riley Fujioka of Los Altos High School bakes cakes for foster youth through the nonprofit agency Cake4Kids. (Photo courtesy of Apala Egan)
Los Altos Town Crier
By Apala Egan
June 10, 2015
Riley Fujioka, a member of the National Charity League’s Stanford Hills Chapter, has a sweet mission.
A sophomore at Los Altos High School, Fujioka has made it her goal to serve children, including those in foster care, at risk or without shelter. Many lack basic necessities and parental love and support.
To fill the gap, Fujioka volunteers with Cake4Kids, a Bay Area nonprofit that provides free birthday cakes for children who might not otherwise have them. Fujioka and her mother create cakes based on the child’s personal tastes.
“I want them to know that I spent time on it and not just threw things together,” said Fujioka, who has received the National Charity League’s Presidential Service, Gold Level and Merci awards for her volunteer efforts. “We want to make sure they realize that we know that their birthday is special and that someone cares for them. Mom and I spend time together figuring out how to make a cake special for children.”
According to Fujioka, after receiving a custom cake, the boost to a child’s self-esteem is immeasurable. She said the recipients of her cakes are typically 2- to 6-year-olds, but recently she and her mom baked a cake for an 18-year-old. Cake4Kids operates on a policy of strict confidentiality – volunteer bakers are only given the first names to write on the cakes.
Serving youth is an ongoing passion for Fujioka. She has also volunteered at Abilities United’s Summer’s Excellent Adventures Camp.
“It is hard to know that they have a disability until you talk to them,” she said of her time with Abilities United.
Fujioka said she hopes to major in psychology in college so that she can help children with disabilities.
“I would like to help them lead normal lives,” she said.
In addition to being an outstanding student, Fujioka is a star athlete and longtime member of the Stanford Diving Club.
For more information on Cake4Kids, visit cake4kids.org.
For more information on the National Charity League, visit stanfordhillsncl.org.
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The Mercury News
By Alia Wilson
August 27, 2014 at 12:08 p.m. (UPDATED: August 12, 2016 at 6:41 a.m.)
You don’t have to tune in to TLC’s “Next Great Baker” to see inspiring pastry creations.
From “Despicable Me” characters to fondant Crown Jewels, edible masterpieces will be on display–and ready to taste–at the annual Cake-Off4Kids baking contest and fundraiser, where a variety of Silicon Valley bakers showcase their talents.
The fourth annual event will be held on Sept. 13 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Domain Hotel in Sunnyvale for one evening of sweet fun.
The event benefits local nonprofit Cake4Kids. Since 2010, the volunteer-run, Sunnyvale-based nonprofit has been making foster kids and at-risk youth free personalized birthday cakes on a day that might otherwise go unnoticed…
The Silicon Valley Voice
By Cynthia Cheng
October 2, 2013, 12:00 am
On September 14 at the Domain Hotel in Sunnyvale, about 50 bakers put their best cake forward at Cake-Off4Kids, a baking competition benefiting Cake4Kids. The non-profit organization matches volunteer bakers up with underserved and foster youth to donate birthday cakes.
After guests dined on food provided by Santa Clara’s Mio Vicino, they headed upstairs to the cake tasting room. The tasting room separated bakers by five categories: best decorated, best tasting, ultimate chocolate, creative cupcakes, and “made by kids.” Guests collected cake samples in white muffin cups and mingled with the bakers…
P.O. Box 2863, Sunnyvale, CA 94087 | (408) 752-2538 | info@cake4kids.org | Tax ID 45-3148916