6 HAVING CAKE AND SHARING IT, TOO

HANA MANGAT

Whenever we hear impressive stories about social entrepreneurs who channel kindness by creating a start-up enterprise aimed at solving social problems or effecting social change, often the assumption is that they’ve come up with an original idea that no one’s ever developed before. The truth is that, in order to channel kindness, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel or do something that’s totally original.

You can always join in someone else’s movement and, if you want, add your own twist. You can always take a page out of someone else’s book and write your own version.

In 2015, that’s exactly what fifteen-year-old Allison Wachen and her brother Robert of Montgomery County, Maryland, decided to do. Allison, a high school student at the time, happened to be flipping through a magazine when an article about a national charity called Birthday Cakes 4 Free (BC4F) caught her attention. The story about this nonprofit inspired Allison to start her own local chapter. She loved the basic mission of volunteer groups in every community getting together to “bake, decorate, and deliver free birthday cakes for financially and socially disadvantaged children and seniors.”

The part of the article that really grabbed Allison was its recognition that, no matter what the scope of the birthday celebration, time-old tradition gives us this one day every year when we experience the magical combination of candles being blown out and the singing of a familiar melody as we wish for whatever our hearts desire. She hadn’t realized before learning of BC4F how many people, young and old, lack the resources or capacity to have a birthday cake of their own on their special day. That just didn’t sit right with her.

Starting a local chapter made all the sense in the world to Allison. It was a perfect way, she thought, to combine her baking talent with her passion for community service. Better yet, when her younger brother Robert expressed an interest in getting on board as her chapter cofounder and vice president of technology, and their cousin Sawyer asked to help, too, she was even more energized by the family fun to be had. They went to work immediately to get BC4F of Montgomery County off the ground—for children of every age.

Once their friends heard about the endeavor, they happily volunteered. Allison began by organizing cake-baking and -decorating socials once a month with kids from the local middle school and high school. She was so impressed by their commitment that she decided to make the organization completely student-run—from the executive board on down.

That’s how Allison took a page from something others had started, added her own twist, and wrote her own version.

In a little over two years, as Allison later told reporters from ABC News, her chapter’s membership went from a sprinkling of kids to more than four hundred members. They went from delivering ten cakes a month to a hundred. Today, out of the sixty-four chapters across the United States, BC4F of Montgomery County, Maryland, is the largest and only student-run chapter in the country.

None of it happened overnight. Allison recalls that people initially assumed that, because it was a youth-driven organization just starting out, they might not be so organized. That changed once they got a few takers and word of mouth spread rapidly about how delicious and beautiful the cakes were and, more importantly, how joyful their donated birthday cakes made the recipients and their guests feel. Along with that reputation for excellence came word-of-mouth about how well-organized they actually were.

As her chapter’s cofounder and president, Allison has long encouraged her volunteers to decorate each cake as its own individual work of art. Her familiar refrain is “Make this cake as if you were giving it to someone in your family.”

Taking that a step further, the student volunteers make a concerted effort to be present not just to deliver the birthday cakes but to witness the reaction of those in attendance. Their kindness is usually acknowledged with such heartfelt gratitude that they are all the more inspired. Sometimes there’s that one person who’s speechless—like the child who wrote them a thank-you note later, saying, “Wow! A cake with my name on it! I’ve never seen one with my name before.” There is general consensus from all the recipients that their own birthday cakes make them feel valued by the entire community. One little girl commented in amazement, “And they don’t even know us.” Another said, “It’s nice they do this for other kids, too.”

The BC4F student volunteers have been known to visit with recipients after the birthday celebration is over. At an event at the Greentree Shelter in Bethesda, Maryland, members lingered to speak with a group of fifteen adults for almost three hours, curious to know and understand more about their experiences, opinions, and lives. Inspiration, compassion, and frosting floated all around.

Aliya Klein, the secretary of BC4F of Montgomery County, explains the significance of the cakes themselves: “A birthday cake is a symbol for celebration, and since the celebration of life is extremely important, I think everyone should have the opportunity to receive one on their birthday.”

Now in college, Allison has handed the reins of the organization to her brother Robert and cousin Sawyer, and is confident that the team’s efforts will flourish in their well-trained hands. While they’re in charge now, she still points out that for their BC4F chapter to continue to grow, public donations are always appreciated— especially because of the high cost of cake-decorating supplies and especially the cake-delivery containers.

Allison’s conviction that a basic blueprint for a charity could be put into action and run by youth has paid off, something that has empowered her immeasurably. “Simply put, my involvement in BC4F shaped my high school experience by giving me confidence that I can be a leader who can make a difference in my community.” The chapter’s collective success is concrete evidence that young people can make a meaningful impact in their communities.

Although the national organization of the BC4F dissolved in 2019, the BC4F is its own 501c(3) nonprofit organization and titled Birthday Cakes 4 Free Maryland. As of March 2020, BC4F has donated 5,638 cakes to 23 charities in the DC Metropolitan area, and the organization has over 750 volunteers. This wonderful nonprofit is full of dedicated, passionate individuals who are helping spread love and joy in free-birthday-cake form, and some who are even real-life genies making wishes come true.

Hana, you are so right. So many people think changing the world means you have to start your own organization and campaign, and while that’s absolutely part of it sometimes, there is so much amazing work already happening. Let’s learn about what exists—strengthen those efforts and help solve more problems. Check out Idealist and VolunteerMatch to learn more about the good things happening in our communities.