Polka Dots and Bows

Photo taken on site at Sweet Blessings.

Since my last blog post, I have been able to visit Sweet Blessings again. This was actually a special occasion for Sweet Blessings, because it was their fifth annual Bake-a-Thon. Each year in February, Sweet Blessings celebrates its birthday by hosting a 24-hour baking episode. Since their first year as a non-profit organization, the number of cakes they have been able to make each year, as well as the number of cakes at the Bake-a-Thon, has increased each year, as you can see to the right.

Myself while cutting out
polka dots

Sweet Blessings is always bustling when I go in, but when I got there this past week, it was busier than ever. Everyone seemed so eager to help out in any way they could-- and even though it was busy, it wasn't stressful, and it seemed like everyone was determined to complete the goal they had set with no problem. My first task I had was to make polka dots to go on a Mickey Mouse cake. I used a rolling pin to roll the white and black gum paste pretty thin, and then I used a cookie-cutter to cut out little circles of different sizes.

 After I completed this, Rachel and I asked a lady named Cecilia if she needed any help. We had met Cecilia during our first visit to Sweet Blessings. From what I gathered, she used to work with the organization often, but hadn't been there much recently. I could tell when Ashley, the founder, talked with Cecilia, that she was genuinely happy to see her again, and really encouraged her to come back. She has been there every time I have since then. Anyways, Cecilia allowed us to take over her job because she was getting ready to leave. Rachel and I cut out gum paste pieces to fold into bows. I had done this before so I also showed Rachel how to do it. After we did many of these, we switched to another job and began making UK logos to go on cakes. These were more difficult because we had to trace the outline of the blue UK with white, only using a cutting knife. If you look at the picture to the lower-right you can better understand what I mean.

The UK logos Rachel and I made

I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Sweet Blessings so far. I am excited to expand my skills that I will be learning and maybe even have the opportunity to decorate a cake myself. The best part of this service learning, though, is getting to know the people involved with this organization. After all, "It's not about the cake."

Learning and Decorating

First cake decorated

On my first visit to Sweet Blessings I was lucky enough to be able to decorate a cake for a child.  I went with another girl from my group, Lanie, and upon arriving we met Ashley, the founder.  She was very helpful throughout the night by getting us started and teaching us the ropes.  By the time we arrived all the cakes had been baked, stacked, and covered with fondant.  This made it easy for us to walk in and just decorate. Among many other skills, we learned how to roll out fondant, cut out shapes and stick them to the cake, and form bow loops.  Since it was our first day there and our first cake, Ashley was there to show us where to find all of the supplies and how to perform the tasks.  I am very proud of how this cake turned out, and I believe the little girl whose birthday it was will be very excited.  The theme of the cake came from a show that the little watches frequently, Gravity Falls.

The boxed up cake

After decorating the cake with the stars, name, and figure, Ashley helped us make the bow on top and then demonstrated how to steam the cake. Steaming the cake make it glossy and visually enhanced the cake.  Then it was time to box up the cake and tie it with a ribbon and happy birthday message.  Our first visit lasted approximately three hours, and it left me very excited to visit the next week to hopefully decorate another cake.

Second cake decorated

The following week, Lanie and I were given much more freedom with the cake we were allowed to decorate.  We came in and Ashley had us wash our hands, like last week, and then she gave us a cake.  Like the previous week, the cake had been previously baked, stacked, and covered.  Unlike last week, our only direction was that the girl liked the colors red and black and music.  This made me feel trusted, even though it was only our second trip.  That being said, Lanie and I wanted to make sure this cake turned out well.  While looking through the available fondant shapes, we found music notes of various sizes.  These proved to be quite a challenge to make because of how thin the music notes were, and how thin the fondant needs to be rolled.  We attached the shapes to the top tier, and then added polka dots and her name to the bottom tier.  Although this cake was time consuming, I believe it turned out great, and a lot of the volunteers also offered their compliments.  As with the first cake, we steamed the cake before it was boxed.  Sweet Blessings so far has been very rewarding knowing that our cakes are going to children who may not have received a cake otherwise.  I am looking forward to all of our future visits and future cakes!

Cakes, Cakes, and More Cakes

Two Football Cakes

Sweet Blessings 

Since my initial post about Sweet Blessings, I have been back to the organization twice. The first Tuesday, there were many cake orders that came in late. Ashley asked me to decorate two football cakes at once to help with the time crunch. This was my first time decorating a cake, so I was a little nervous. Ashley showed me how to roll out the fondant, cut out the decorations, and what she wanted the cakes to look like. I added yard lines, football lace, grass, and a jersey to each cake. I loved being able to make the cakes specifically for two children who loved football, and I hope they really enjoyed them.

Sweet Blessings Graph

The second Tuesday that I went to Sweet Blessings was their annual Bake-a-Thon. This is held every year in February, in honor of the month that Ashley first started the organization. Sweet Blessings tries to bake as many cakes as possible for children during this marathon, and over 100 cakes were made on February 23rd! Needless to say, it was very busy inside Sweet Blessings last Tuesday. I was welcomed by a sign as soon as I entered the building. The sign displayed a graph of how many children that Sweet Blessings has helped each year. The number has increased each year, and I am so excited that I am helping to keep this trend for 2016.

Polka Dots

While helping with the Bake-a-Thon, I started out by making circle decorations for a Mickey Mouse cake. The circles were black and white and really added a special touch to the cake. After this, I spent the rest of my time making bows and UK symbols for cakes. The bows were made from gum paste and were very simple to cut out and form. The UK symbols were very difficult. The UK letters had to be cut out in blue and then given a white outline using a cutting utensil. It was very time consuming because I wanted to make the symbol look as neat as possible.

UK Symbol

Bows and UK Symbols

Sweet Blessings' Bake-a-Thon Shirt

As I was making the decorations, I couldn't help but notice all of the volunteers. All of the tables were filled with cakes and people. All of the workers were laughing and smiling, and I realized how true the message on Sweet Blessings' Bake-a-Thon shirt is: IT'S NOT ABOUT THE CAKE. Sweet Blessings is about the children and helping to spread God's love to them, not just making cakes.

I absolutely love volunteering at Sweet Blessings. Decorating the cakes is very enjoyable, and I love being able to send joy to children in need. I am eager to see what next Tuesday brings!

First Few Visits

I have volunteered with Sweet Blessings twice now with Haley. On each visit, we were able to jump right in and decorate a cake. Ashley, the owner of Sweet Blessings, was very kind and patient in teaching us the basics. She showed us where to find the materials that we would need in order to decorate cakes. A few things that we needed were rolling pins, cutting boards, letters, and other cutouts that pertained to the cake design. Once we washed our hands, tied our hair back, and picked up the needed materials, we were ready to begin.

The Gravity Falls cake.

The first cake that Haley and I decorated was a "Gravity Falls" cake. Gravity Falls is a children's TV show that our first child client really enjoys. The cake was two tiers. The cake was already assembled and covered with fondant when we arrived. Ashley showed us how to cut out the letters with cookie cutters, and then apply them using water. The water makes the sugar in the fondant sticky and allows the fondant pieces to adhere to the cake.

The Gravity Falls cake, boxed and ready to go.

Haley colored the Gravity Falls character with edible markers. Finally, we added stars to the cake to match the stars on the characters' shirt, and Ashley helped us pipe the cake and add a bow to the top. We also learned how to take photos of the cakes for Ashley's records, and box up the cakes so that they are ready for delivery. I was initially very nervous to carry the cake, but Ashley told us that only three cakes have ever been dropped in the history of Sweet Blessings.

The red, black, and white music cake.

On our second visit, Haley and I decorated a music themed cake. With a basic knowledge in cake decorating, we were able to get started on our own. The client's favorite colors are red and black. We used red and black to create music notes, but brightened up the cake by adding pops of white. To give it a more girly feel, we added
a polka dot design to the bottom tier of the cake and a big white bow on the top. It took us two sets of hands and two hours to finish the cake, but we were extremely proud of the result. We took our time perfecting the details, and the end result was beautiful. I feel lucky to be able to brighten a child's day by making them a cake that they won't forget. I cannot wait to see how our next creation turns out.

Sweet Blessings Background

Taken from the Sweet
 Blessings Facebook page

Sweet Blessings is a volunteer-based organization that is run in the basement of the Maxwell Street Presbyterian Church.  This nonprofit was created to give children who are living with medical problems or in poverty special cakes for their birthday.  All of the cakes are funded and created by local volunteers so that the parents do not have to worry about paying for the cakes.  Ashley Gann is the founder and director of Sweet Blessings.  Her idea to start this organization in 2011 came from her love of baking, and her love of God.  She felt a calling to give help to those in need around Lexington, and she believed God wanted her to do so through her cakes.  Every cake comes with a bible verse that shows the child that they are being prayed for by volunteers.

Take from
sweetblessingscakes.org

All of the cakes made by Sweet Blessings are specific to the child.  I was luckily able to volunteer for the first time this week, and I was able to see how the theme of each cake is decided.  For every cake there is background information about what the child likes to do, their favorite colors, and their favorite characters.  Creating the cake is more special knowing that the child will be genuinely excited to see it.  The cakes are not like regular cakes, most are multiple tiered and are covered in fondant and gum paste which gives the cakes more excitement and appeal to the child.  I believe that it is important to make children feel special on their birthdays, and the fact that these children come from not great home lives makes it all the more worthwhile to give them a special cake.

Coloring with edible markers

As mentioned before, I volunteered yesterday for the first time with Lanie, another member in our group.  During our time there we were able to use the edible markers, make bow loops out of gum paste, learn how to box each cake, and make our own cake.  The cake we decorated was for a little girl, and it was covered in stars that we made ourselves.  Watching the cake come together was very rewarding when I thought about how happy the little girl would be to receive it.  Throughout the night, Ashley was very helpful with any and all questions, and she made sure that we stayed busy.  I am excited to go back many more times because as Ashley told us, the more times you volunteer, the more cakes you get to make.

First Visit and Background Information

Photo taken from
sweetblessingscakes.org

Sweet Blessings is a non-profit organization that works in the basement of Maxwell Street Presbyterian Church in downtown Lexington, whose goal is to create birthday cakes for children living in poverty or with a life-threatening illness. The program began in 2011, when they reached 611 children, and has grown to 1,100 children in 2014. 

I chose Sweet Blessings as my first choice in a service learning organization because I really enjoy working with and around children. Although I may not get to work with the children directly in Sweet Blessings, I will know the work I am doing there is going to impact at least one of their live's dramatically, and it might just impact mine along the way. 

Photo taken from
sweetblessingscakes.org

While researching Sweet Blessings, I found a Facebook post that said they were preparing to make 47 cakes the next Tuesday that they met. It's amazing to me that they can reach so many children so quickly! They really have great volunteers there, who are dedicated to their work and time that they put in. 

Last week I went to Sweet Blessings for the first time. I got a chance to meet the founder, Ashley Gann, who seemed like a really great lady to be around. While I was there I got to box finished cakes, wash dishes, and clean up tables. I went again this past Tuesday, and this time I got to wrap up cakes to put in the freezer, wash dishes, and I also got to make gum paste bows to put on the top of the cakes. 

The first grader I met during my
second visit (right) and another helper.

While I was there the last time, a little girl came up and tapped me on the arm. "Can I help make the bows?" she asked. I told her sure and asked if she wanted me to show her how. "I already know how to do it," she told me quickly, so I told her she was doing better than me! I was glad I got a chance to talk to her though, although she was only in first grade and may not have understood why we were making the cakes, she was still excited to help. 

The Sweetest Gift

Taken from www.sweetblessings.org

Taken from www.sweetblessings.org

 Ashley Gann did not start her baking career until her thirties, but once she did, she knew that God wanted her to make a difference in the world with the cakes she made. It was not until her pastor started talking about ways to help those in need in Lexington, that Ashley decided to found Sweet Blessings. 

Taken from www.sweetblessings.org

In 2011, the non-profit organization, Sweet Blessings, was started by Ashley. The organization is faith based, with a mission to express God's love by creating birthday cakes for children that are suffering from illnesses or living in poverty. The first cake created by Sweet Blessings was in February 2011 for a child named Dalton. Dalton received the cake on his 8th birthday, two years after being involved in a car accident that caused a traumatic brain injury. The cake was taken to the Ronald McDonald House, and Dalton was so excited that he got up from his wheelchair to get a closer look at the cake. Dalton's mother claimed that his happiness from receiving the cake was a "blessing."

Taken from www.sweetblessings.org

Taken from www.sweetblessings.org

Sweet Blessings believes that every child should feel special on his/her birthday, not reminded of poverty or illness. Sweet Blessings takes referrals from schools, churches, and social services and uses the information provided to create a cake specific for the child in need. Each cake is unique, reflective of the child's interests and hobbies. The cakes are beautiful, made with love, and sent to the children with an endless amount of prayers. 

After learning about the difference that Sweet Blessings has made in children's lives, I knew that I wanted to be a part of this organization. The unforgettable cakes spread joy to every child that receives one, and for a moment, the thought of poverty or not being about to live to see another birthday disappears. I believe strongly in the power of prayer, and Sweet Blessings is an organization that spreads prayer, joy, and God's love. I am both eager and excited to play a role in giving a child an incredible birthday experience and scrumptious cake.

Taken from www.sweetblesings.org

 I was fortunate enough to visit the organization on February 2nd, and I loved every second of it. From boxing cakes to doing a ton of dishes, I was thrilled to know that I was helping to make a child in need smile. The jobs can range anywhere from writing birthday cards to decorating the cakes, but it doesn't matter what job I may be assigned. Any job will contribute to spreading God's love. To me, that is the sweetest gift of all. 
   

Blessings,

Rachel Gootee

Sweet Blessings First Thoughts

I was originally drawn to Sweet Blessings because it is such a unique non-profit organization. Sweet Blessings was founded in 2011 by Ashley Boyd Gann. The organization makes beautiful birthday cakes for children living in poverty or dealing with a serious, life threatening illness. Sweet Blessings' mission is to make the children that they serve feel special on their birthday while spreading the message of Christ. They want to let the children know that someone is looking out for them even if everything else seems to be going wrong in their lives. There is a focus on the individual through this process; the cake even comes in a decorative package with a personalized birthday card. The children never expect that something that special could happen to them. The mission of Sweet Blessings is touching to me.

Sweet Blessings' first cake, Feb. 2011 (photo from sweetblessingscakes.org)

I am thrilled to be paired with Sweet Blessings! They help spread light to children's lives by providing cakes similar to what is seen on TV on shows such as Cake Boss. People may not realize what the effects of a birthday cake could be on a child going through a difficult time. Personally, I always feel special on my birthday. However, some children live in a home where it is hard to even get food to the table or they are constantly worried about their health. They may not have that same special feeling that I do on my birthday. Sweet Blessings allows these children to know that they are loved and cared about enough to receive a lavish cake and to be celebrated for who they are. 

I have not yet served with Sweet Blessings, however, it is apparent that the impact of their cakes spreads far beyond the child’s actual birthday. Before researching the organization, I wasn’t aware that Sweet Blessings is a faith based organization. Now that I have discovered that it is faith based, I am even more excited to serve at Sweet Blessings. I am making a goal to serve with Sweet Blessings every week so that I can learn how to make and decorate the cakes. I believe that if I put a lot into the experience I will get more out of it. It will also allow me be able to help Sweet Blessings to the best of my ability. I cannot wait to get started!