Thanks to a new nonprofit, San Benito County residents can have their cake and eat it, too.
The San Benito County chapter of the national nonprofit organization Birthday Cakes 4 Free started last spring and group members have been bringing cakes, cupcakes and muffins to low-income seniors and children ever since.
“There really are no restrictions,” said Andrea Fontaine, a group coordinator. “We have one or two women who are very cake talented and then there’s the rest of us that slap some frosting on there and call it a day.”
Since the group started in June, its members have delivered about five cakes a month to the Emmaus House, Chamberlain’s Children Center and the assisted living facility Whispering Pines Inn. Now they’re looking to expand to individual homes in the county.
“We technically do serve the entire county so if there’s someone in Tres Pinos or San Juan Bautista anything like that, they fall within our category,” Fontaine said.
Recipients at individual homes in the county could be single moms or low-income families, she said. To receive a cake, residents just have to reach out to the organization and answer a few quick questions to show they’re a good fit for the nonprofit’s mission.
Volunteers participating in the nonprofit have made cupcakes and lemon blueberry muffins, and have even purchased cakes to make sure county residents have something sweet to eat on their special day. There are no rules but the nonprofit does ask that the sweets say “happy birthday.”
“It’s really great,” Fontaine said. “It’s really rewarding to see the looks on their faces when they get their cake.”
Fontaine recalls one special delivery to a woman at the Whispering Pines Inn where the recipient was battling a terminal illness and knew this would be her last birthday.
“The lady we delivered it to just broke down and cried,” Fontaine said. “She was so happy to have it.”
For Fontaine, the joy of delivering the cakes comes from “serving others” and letting county residents know that someone was thinking about them on their birthday.
Local resident Julie Engelhardt founded the county chapter, which is now coordinated by Fontaine and Jennifer Schuler.
To join the crew of volunteers who make the sweets or to request a cake, email Fontaine at
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