Monday, September 13, 2010

Confections for Kids by Confectioneiress.


It seems as if I am always just writing about the flavors for the Binford Farmer's Market on here. So, instead of making this post about flavors for this weekend, I wanted to take the time to share with you another very important part of Confectioneiress Cupcakes & Sweets that is very near and dear to our hearts.
Over two years ago, I heard about a woman in Atlanta who was baking cupcakes for families in need, and it immediately was something that my heart was drawn towards. I know it may be hard to believe, but there are so many children out there who have never celebrated their birthday. They have never had a cake, no one to sing “Happy Birthday” to them, absolutely nothing to make their day the least bit special. And, that is where I knew we could make a difference.

Eventually, I became in contact with a local homeless shelter in Indianapolis, Holy Family Shelter. This shelter has been around for over 25 years and has been serving Indianapolis families who are in need in a variety of ways. They focus on families only (either married/single parents with children or pregnant women), and the staff there are absolutely fantastic and are very caring. They do their best to offer a plethora of services such as budget planning, health care, tutoring, job assistance, and many forms of therapy just to name a few. Since I first met with them, I have seen their shelter grow and right around the holidays this past year, they were able to move out of their old facilities into a brand new one that allowed them to expand their services to more families.

Through Confections for Kids by Confectioneiress, we bake and donate cupcakes or birthday cakes to the children who celebrate their birthday while the family is in the shelter. I try and take enough to be served to all the children in the shelter so no child is left out. On average, there are about two to three children that celebrate their birthday each month, and for each child, I create cupcakes or a cake to make their day special.

The shelter does a fantastic job in helping the families the best they can, but their resources are limited in certain areas and this was one thing that I could do to help them. The director, Amber, told us that many parents were distraught over the fact that they could not afford a small cake for their children, and many of them would want to use what little money they had to go out and buy a cake. The way she put it was that little small things such as this make the world of a difference to the people at the shelter. This is the type of experience that will help them to remember this time positively and really impact the children while taking the burden off the parents while easing stress.

One in particular story touched my heart. About a year ago, I got an e-mail one day from the director of Holy Family Shelter about an urgent request. They had a family that had just moved in that had a little boy who was turning 8 with a birthday two days later. She said he “had given up all hope of having a birthday cake” and was devastated. He kept saying over and over that all he wanted was a Spongebob birthday cake for his birthday. So, of course, I absolutely had to give him his Spongebob birthday cake! I didn't see him when they had his party, but I hope that he had a smile on his face when he saw his cake and that his birthday was special after all.

It is stories like this that make me feel blessed to get to bake the cupcakes and cakes for the shelter. Often times, I know nothing about the child except their birth date and gender, but it does not change the way I feel about making them. I still put the same amount of time and thought into creating them. I know it helps the shelter, the families, and hopefully, most importantly, I hope that it brings a little bit of sunshine to the child and makes their time at the Holy Family Shelter a positive one.

I do not do this for any sort of recognition or to make any money. I donate all the cupcakes and I purchase all the supplies out of my own personal finances. The only thing I ask is that you all take time to be thankful for all that you have. I know that we often take many small things for granted, like even a birthday cake, but there are always people out there who cannot imagine living like we do. And, the goal of Confections for Kids is to change that one cupcake at a time :)

Have a great week!



The picture above are one of the cupcakes I made for a 4 year old girl who loved butterflies. I made butterflies out of chocolate and decorated them with sprinkles.

2 comments:

  1. Mica, you are so generous! Thank you for helping the kids celebrate in time of turmoil! And I love that they keep the families TOGETHER! How refreshing!

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  2. Thanks KerryAnn! It is a great shelter, and I like that they keep the families together too!

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