Cake4Kids

Brings Celebration to Children Who Need It Most

When Paula Simon stepped away from her demanding role as Executive Director of a nonprofit focused on legislative advocacy and community relations, she hoped retirement would bring a gentler rhythm. After years of navigating policy battles, tense committee hearings and the constant pressure of public service, she wanted a new chapter that offered joy rather than stress.

“I just wanted to do something to make people happy, where I’m not fighting with a legislator or a committee,” says Paula, who now serves as the Napa and Sonoma Chapter’s Ambassador for Cake4Kids. “A colleague told me about a nonprofit for children who’ve been either neglected, underserved or in foster care who have never had a birthday cake. I started as a volunteer baker.”

Cake4Kids began in 2010 in Sunnyvale, California, founded by Libby Gruender after she learned about a foster child who had never received a birthday cake. The idea was simple and heartfelt. A small group of volunteers baked thirteen cakes for a few local agencies. What started as a modest effort has grown into a national organization with thousands of volunteer bakers in twenty-eight chapters across the country. This year, Cake4Kids delivered its 100,000th cake, a milestone that reflects both the need and the generosity of volunteers who believe every child deserves to feel celebrated.

The process is straightforward. Social service agencies submit cake requests on behalf of underserved youth up to age twenty-two. Caseworkers or social workers share the child’s wish with their local Cake4Kids chapter. The chapter sends the request to its volunteer bakers, who choose the ones they want to fulfill. Once a baker accepts a request, they create homemade cake, cookies or brownies and deliver the finished treat directly to the agency. Volunteers never meet the children, which protects privacy while still ensuring a personal and meaningful gift.

“Often it’s a very specific request like Spider-Man or a Disney Princess or ‘I only want a cake that’s purple,’” says Paula, who began baking for the organization in 2020. “The child can pick the flavor of the cake; and might say, ‘I want a chocolate cake with white frosting and I want these decorations.’ Some of the requests are challenging. Many of our bakers are semi-retired and may not be familiar with cultural references or comic characters. They’re Googling names and pictures trying to recreate the wish. We want the child to have exactly what they want, to have that moment of their year where it’s all about them, so we don’t often limit what the caseworkers can request.”

Paula says the Napa chapter has eighty-five volunteer bakers, and forty of them have baked so far this year. Sonoma County has one hundred forty-six volunteer bakers. In Napa, Cake4Kids partners with fifteen agencies, including Cope Family Center, Voices Youth Center, Napa County Child Support Services and Napa County Health and Human Services. All children served are connected to private or government social service agencies or nonprofits.

“Our volunteer bakers are people who love to bake or they’re artistic people,” Paula explains. “There are a few people in each chapter who are professionally trained bakers, but most of them are self-taught. They watch a lot of YouTube videos or have taken some classes. I tell the bakers that sprinkles go a long way.”

For volunteer baker Mariann Davis, the work is both joyful and deeply meaningful. She has baked for Cake4Kids for four years.

“I love to bake and I don’t think anybody should go without a birthday cake,” says Mariann. “So, it’s a win-win situation for me. According to Paula, I’ve made 66 cakes, which surprised me, but I just enjoy it. This coming week I’m going to make my first cake after breaking my ankle in April and I am excited.”

Mariann recalls one request that pushed her creativity in a new direction. “I don’t know which request was my most difficult, although I did bake a cake out of my comfort zone, a Gothic cake. I used black cocoa powder for the black frosting. The inside was red velvet. It turned out to be one of my favorites.”

She often hears people say they love the idea of Cake4Kids but feel intimidated by decorating. “Most people I talk to about cake for kids love the concept of the organization but say they can’t bake because they’re not that good at decorating,” she says. “I remind them they get better with practice. Piping ‘Happy Birthday’ and names is still tricky for me. Instead, I use a cake topper or cut out fondant or letters that I make with a candy mold. The important thing is a child gets a birthday cake. Baking is my happy place so it’s just enjoyable, almost meditative.”

A standard Cake4Kids request is for two dozen cupcakes, cookies or brownies. For cakes, the minimum requirement is an eight-inch two-layer cake, though many bakers choose to make three-layer cakes or nine-inch cakes. Volunteer bakers supply all ingredients, decorations and cake boxes. The average cost per cake is about sixty-five dollars. Paula estimates that each cake requires four to six hours to bake, cool, decorate and deliver.

Ingredients must be shelf stable, which means no cream cheese frosting, whipped cream, fresh fruit or anything requiring refrigeration.

Volunteer baker Andrea G. has baked approximately eight batches of cupcakes in her first year with Cake4Kids. She offers encouragement to anyone considering volunteering. “Signing up to bake can be a little intimidating especially if, like me, you don’t have any decorating experience. But with Cake4Kids, it’s really not about how experienced you are. It’s about helping make a child feel special and even though we don’t get to meet the kids for whom we’re baking, knowing that you’re making their birthday a little more special and letting them know that someone cares make it worthwhile.”

Running Cake4Kids requires funding, though the organization operates with remarkable efficiency. “Our fundraising is essentially to run the operation,” Paula says. “Every chapter has a fundraising responsibility and that really goes to underwrite the cost of our operations person who’s working with us and our bakers and for occasional promotional materials. The chapter requires technology for an agency portal to submit their requests and one for the bakers to pick up their requests. Bakers get a reminder the day before the order is due and a thank you note afterward. It’s a more complicated operation than people might think. Some volunteers have baked cupcakes and sold them as a fundraiser, and we’ve received small grants from the Napa Kiwanis as well as being in the Napa Valley Give!Guide.”

The national organization operates with a small staff of about two full-time and two part-time employees. In rare cases when a volunteer cannot complete a cake due to illness or emergency, the agency purchases a cake from a grocery store and Cake4Kids reimburses the cost.

Paula believes the impact of a single cake can be profound. “These kids have been through perhaps horrid foster care, abused or living in a shelter. There’s so much trauma in their life that the idea that one person, one stranger, did something kind for them. We hope a child remembers somebody who didn’t know them did this for me. I’m worthy of it, I’m of value to somebody because someone made a difference in my life. Probably a five-year-old isn’t going to think about that, but youth transition kids or kids who’ve often been swallowed through the cracks do appreciate it.”

For more information, to volunteer or donate, visit cake4kids.org. Under the Locations tab, click Napa.