Sweet Blessed with a Great Semester

Sweet Blessings has truly been a great experience.  All of the people I met there, Ashley and fellow volunteers, and gaining the opportunity to make unique cakes has had such a positive impact on my life.  Also, knowing that the enjoyment that I experience while volunteering goes to benefit another child's life, makes my time spent there that much more rewarding.  I absolutely plan on going back next semester when I return to Lexington to volunteer again!

See You Soon, Sweet Blessings

Serving at Sweet Blessings surely has been a sweet blessing! I have enjoyed working with the volunteers and Ashley (founder). It has been a very positive experience and I look forward to serving with Sweet Blessings in the future!

Reflecting But Looking Forward

Photo from
sweetblessingscakes.org 

My time at Sweet Blessings was productive and very satisfying. I am glad I got to be a part of such a great organization. The people there truly care about bringing joy to the lives of underprivileged children. I hope I can continue to volunteer at Sweet Blessings in my future semesters at UK.

Below is a link to sign up for a 5K Race that Sweet Blessings is hosting as a fundraiser. Check it out if you are a runner competitively or recreationally.
The Great Cake Race on May 1, 2016

Learning About Cakes and Giving Back

During my time at Sweet Blessings, I have learned a lot. Not only have I learned about cakes, but I have also learned about giving back. The non-profit organization strives to share love and put a smile on each child's face that they help. They are extremely successful in this mission! The organization has grown, and there are many regulars that volunteer with Sweet Blessings. I have become passionate about their mission while serving there and I have also picked up some cake decorating techniques! In the summer, I hope to get more involved with the baking and delivery of the cakes. I have included some photos (below) that show some of the cakes that I have worked on. To view the Sweet Blessings video that I mentioned, please visit www.sweetblessingscakes.org

Crafting a fence for the horse themed cake.

Creating a pixelated logo and adding text to the video themed cake.

Adding paw prints, stripes, and text to the UK themed cake! Go cats!

A Sweet Farewell

Unfortunately, my last post was about my last visit to Sweet Blessings for the semester. I wanted to reflect on volunteering with Sweet Blessings and the organization throughout the semester. I hope you guys will watch and enjoy my video! Thanks for keeping up with my blog!

It's NOT about the cake t-shirt

Dalton's birthday cake taken from sweetblessings.org

Birthday Joy taken from sweetblessings.org 

Dalton with his birthday cake taken from sweetblessings.org

Sweet Blessings Influence

Photo take from Sweet Blessings Facebook page

During my time at Sweet Blessings, I have learned a lot about what it takes to run a nonprofit.  Ashley, the owner, is a very inspirational lady in the way she started Sweet Blessings, and has turned it into the place it is today.  Every time I have gone to volunteer she is available to guide beginners, and help out the people who have been there before.  Ashley is just one of the reasons that I have enjoyed working at Sweet Blessings thus far.

Another reason I love Sweet Blessings is because I have the knowledge that every cake made goes to a child who otherwise would no get one.  This makes me excited to go volunteer because I know I am making an immediate difference in that child's life, even if it is only for one day.  The fact that each child's individual interests are taken into account before making it is something that makes Sweet Blessings so unique.  I have been lucky enough in my life, where I have always felt special on my birthday, and I have never had to worry about whether I will receive a cake or not.  Being able to help children not so lucky is a very rewarding experience.  As seen in the picture on the right, Sweet Blessings has such a positive influence on each child who gets a cake for their birthday.  This child received a Cars themed cake, one of his favorite movies, and clearly he was overjoyed to see it on is birthday.

Cake made during last visit

At my most recent visit to Sweet Blessings, Lanie and I had the privilege to make a UK cake for a boy with very good taste in teams.  Before we even got there, the cake was baked, layered with cardboard in between the two cakes, and covered in a layer of fondant.  The fondant is basically a thick layer of icing to make the cake smoother and look nicer before adding details.  The process that we contributed to this cake involved cutting out the letters for his name, using a ribbon cutter to form stripes, and hammering a dowel into the cake to stand up the UK symbol.  These may sound like daunting tasks, but with the other volunteers' guidance, the cake turned out great.  Once it was steamed, we boxed it up and it was ready to go the child on his birthday the following day.  Unfortunately with finals approaching, my last visit is most likely my last visit of the semester.  That being said, I had such a great experience volunteering here, I plan to come back next semester and bring my friends so that they too can help out.

Blessed to Serve at Sweet Blessings

Ashley Gann, founder (from sweetblessingscakes.org)

I have continued to enjoy my time serving at Sweet Blessings. As time has progressed, I have formed a better relationship with Ashley, the owner, along with the other volunteers. I always feel lucky to have so many helpful people around to help when I go to Sweet Blessings on Tuesday. Each person is willing to jump in and lend a hand even though they already have their own tasks to work on. The dedication that I see while I am at Sweet Blessings is inspiring.

Ashley puts in very long days in order to make sure each child in need receives their birthday cake. Sometimes, if she has a lot of orders in one week, this means she is coming in early in the morning and leaving late at night. Considering she has her own family and children at home, the sacrifice that she makes is huge. The work that Ashley and the other volunteers put in is very inspiring and causes me to wholeheartedly support their cause as well.

UK themed cake that Haley and I decorated.

I have learned a lot about cakes in my time at Sweet Blessings. A Tuesday at Sweet Blessings consists of cake baking, freezing the cakes, and lots and lots of clean up. Then, the cakes are constructed depending on the number of people that they are supposed to serve. It might be a small classroom or designed just to serve a family. The cakes are covered in fondant depending on the interests of the individual that the cake is going to, and that’s where I come in. The volunteers that are able to come in the evening complete the decorating of the cakes. I have learned to do various things that I did not even know existed! A lot of it is just jumping in and thinking of your own creative ideas regarding what might look good. I have learned a lot about what’s “in” with kids these days. This includes decorating video game cakes and decorating cakes based off of TV shows I have never heard of (and I have never felt so old)! I cannot wait to see what I learn next week.