HILLIARD, Ohio — It’s a cliché, but it’s also a heavy truth: many small ingredients, when brought together, make the best dish.
Six months ago Emily Shaw noticed a need.
“I just noticed in some local groups some parents asking for help with birthdays with their kids,” she said.
So, she bought a cake for a young boy and delivered it. His mother messaged Shaw about her son’s gratitude and never-ending smile. It made Shaw start baking a new idea.
“It really touched me that it meant so much to him, so I thought maybe I could start doing this for other kids,” she said.
She started a Facebook group, Columbus Cake Celebrations. And, within a month, it had more than 400 volunteers who had created more than 60 cakes.
“All the sudden [it] just got like requests for volunteers, like, flooding in,” Shaw said.
The cakes have been gifted to children of all ages across central Ohio. The group is so big, it’s now also helping patients in hospice care and it’s getting ready to start creating baked goods for local non-profits that help families in need.
“We’re all different skill levels,” Shaw said. “I didn’t expect everyone to be so good.”
All the small ingredients, as cliché as it is to say and as truthful as it is to hear, truly do make the perfect dish when brought together.
“A cake says a stranger is thinking about you and they care and you can do this,” she said. “And, so that makes it worth it to me to know that we’re making at least one small impact in a kid’s life.”