'Delivering Smiles': Cake4Kids Approaches 10,000th Cake Delivery For NoVA Kids

During birthdays and other celebrations, families facing financial struggles still want their children to have the joy of a cake. That's where Cake4Kids come in.

Cake4Kids, which delivers homemade cakes to kids in need, is approaching its 10,000th cake delivery milestone for its Northern Virginia chapter. The nonprofit provides free cakes for children and young adults up to age 24 for birthdays and other celebrations.

Through partnerships with hundreds of agencies in Northern Virginia, it receives requests for cakes and fulfills them through about 1,000 volunteer bakers. Deliveries are made around Arlington County, Alexandria, Prince William County, Fairfax County and Loudoun County.

According to Northern Virginia Cake4Kids ambassador Mary Campbell, the focus of the cake deliveries is underserved and at-risk youth, including immigrants, foster kids and those impacted by domestic violence. Cake4Kids works with organizations like homelessness nonprofits, foster agencies, Court Appointed Special Advocates agencies, schools, community centers and other locations serving the children in need.

Campbell founded the chapter after thinking about how she'd feel if she couldn't provide anything for her child's birthday. The 10,000 milestone means a lot to the Cake4Kids Northern Virginia chapter, which was founded in 2019 and returned strong after a COVID-19 pandemic pause.

"I'm happy that there are 10,000 children out there that that were able to receive a cake from us, and the great thing about Cake4Kids, one of the things that we give children is choices," said Campbell. "A lot of kids, they just get what they get....Cake4Kids lets them choose."

Caseworkers for the partner agencies typically submit cake requests to Cake4Kids. Those requests go to the 1,000 volunteer bakers in Northern Virginia. Bakers will go into the portal and volunteer to bake and deliver the cake. Because there are volunteer bakers around the region, volunteers can choose requests that are closer to home. They will even fulfill requests for non-cake desserts if a child prefers an alternative.

The organization continues to seek volunteers who can donate cakes and deliver them.
"They're just quietly amongst us out there, delivering smiles to people," said Campbell. "We're passing them on the road, and they're out there doing pretty amazing things."

The difference a homemade cake makes for the families is evident in their reactions.

"There was a mom recently in Northern Virginia who went into a food pantry to pick up her food delivery and picked up the cake as well, and when she looked at the cake, she started to cry," said Campbell. "She said, 'you know, my son is angry, and oftentimes I feel like I can't do anything right, and I got this one right.'"

In another case, Campbell recalls a child called down to his school principal's office. The boy was wondering if he did something wrong.

"When he got went in the office, the staff was holding a cake, and they all said, happy birthday to him. And this teenage boy in school broke down crying. So that just tells you the impact of what this does. And honestly, after that, maybe he thinks that okay, they're not out to get me. They do care about me."

One reason for the recipients' strong reactions is the sense of normalcy that the homemade cakes provide.

"There's one case worker who reached out to me about that and explained, in a time of trauma, this provides a moment of normalcy," said Campbell. "I think something so many of us take for granted is that we can go up to our children and ask them what they want, and then we have this nice family celebration around this cake where we can wish them and well and celebrate the day that they were born. And that's not something that every family gets."

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