Wednesday, February 10, 2016

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. 



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5 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 11, 2016 at 8:21 AM

    Amelia,

    I really enjoyed reading about your experience at Sweet Blessings and particularly the story you included at the end! So adorable!

    Were you expecting your first experience to go the way that it did or were you surprised by how the volunteering experience actually went?

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  2. UnknownMarch 22, 2016 at 9:37 PM

    It was pretty similar to what I expected! I knew that I wouldn't be able to jump right in to the cake decorating so I wasn't surprised when I was asked to do some of the odd-jobs. It was still really fun though!

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  3. AnonymousApril 19, 2016 at 1:01 PM

    Amelia,

    The story of the little girl making bows with you is such a beautiful story. Your work is really touching the lives of little kids, those who receive cakes and those who help make them. Have you had any profound moments or learned any life lessons from your time volunteering at Sweet Blessings?

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  4. UnknownApril 29, 2016 at 5:37 PM

    In my most recent blog post, I mentioned that one thing I learned from working at Sweet Blessings is that you don't have to be involved directly with the people you are working for. Being behind the scenes is just as great as being involved first hand.

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  5. UnknownApril 29, 2016 at 5:37 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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