Amazing Cakes for Ailing Kids
A Dispatch From Parents writer Katrina Brown Hunt
In case you ever doubted that cake has made the world a better place, here’s indisputable proof. Maryland-based Icing Smiles creates and delivers fabulously over-the-top cakes to kids battling major health problems.
The non-profit was founded in early 2010 by a Tracy Quisenberry, a mom whose own kids had gone through major health crises, and who wanted to give back in a three-dimensional, fondant-covered way. For some kids, she writes, “this is the first cake ever designed for them…for others it’s a momentary distraction from the sights and sounds of a hospital, and for others, this may be their last birthday cake.”
Icing Smiles recently asked NYC cake artist Kate Sullivan—whose confectionary creations have been on the Today Show and in Martha Stewart Weddings—to create a cake based on Yoshi, the dinosaur of Mario Brothers fame. The recipient: a boy named Ben, a big Yoshi fan who has been getting treatment at Sloan-Kettering for a recurrence of neuroblastoma, and who was going to be far from his Denver home on his 9th birthday.
“He was quiet and shy at first,” Sullivan told us about delivering the cake to NYC’s Ronald McDonald House. “But he lit up when he saw it and made an urgent plea to his mom to go get his camera—he said he couldn’t wait to send pictures to hisfriends. The look on his mom’s face when she walked in was priceless, too. She got a big smile, gasped and covered her mouth in surprise. It was great to share a hug with her before I left.”
Wanna help? You don’t have to be a professional baker to be a hero here. Icing Smiles welcomes any small financial contributions, or you can sponsor a whole cake for $100. You can even donate your home-cooking talents, by hosting a bake-sale fundraiser or creating extra treats at the holidays. Check out their needs or email founder Tracy Quisenberry for more information.
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8 Comments
by Tracy Quisenberry
On June 25, 2010 at 4:00 pm
Just wanted to provide everyone with an active link: http://www.icingsmiles.org Thanks for the support!
by Ben Brewer's Blog | Blog | Ben has gone national...
On June 29, 2010 at 10:26 pm
[...] June 29, 2010 in Ben Update by Matt Brewer Parents magazine did a nice writeup of icing smiles, the company that created the Yoshi cake for Ben’s birthday. Please take a look at the article here: Parents.com [...]
by beth
On June 30, 2010 at 12:57 am
A beautiful cake and a beautiful boy! Great story, thanks. I hope Ben’s birthday was amazing.
by Becky Jacobson
On June 30, 2010 at 8:31 am
Big tears of joy when I saw the photos from Ben’s big day. His smile says it all…thank you for making my super hero so happy! Yay Yoshi! Yay Ben!
by Sarah Brewer (Ben's Mom)
On June 30, 2010 at 8:51 am
This cake made Ben’s day (and mine, too)! Kate did a fantastic job replicating Yoshi (to the point of Ben wanting to keep the top portion instead of eating it!) This was a precious memory on what was otherwise a day of yucky cancer treatments far away from home. You made this newly minted nine year old extremely happy and I cannot thank you enough!
by green diarrhea
On September 20, 2011 at 8:51 pm
This is a fantastic way to enjoy the lifestyle of declaring that.
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