Does anyone else remember the old Women’s Weekly Cake Book? Well, The Breeze’s Sarah Van Der Kley sure does.
She still loves to use it, plus it’s even led her to a pretty incredible organisation.
After a nostalgic post on The Breeze’s Facebook page, Sarah was contacted by the proud father of The Cake Detective.
That’s how Sarah caught up with Hamilton local Laura Casey, the founder of The Cake Detective - an organisation dedicated to making incredible cakes for Kiwi kids going through hardship.
Laura and her team of volunteers receive referrals through the agencies and charities they work with to determine the kids in need of a bit of celebrating, love and to be made to feel special.
“It can be for children who have been through abuse, homelessness, poverty, to children who have serious illnesses [or in] places like hospice and true colours,” Laura explained.
We donate birthday cakes to those kids to make sure that they feel some joy and celebration on their birthday, when otherwise they might not have had the chance.
“Some of [the kids] I’ve talked to the referrers about have been 17 years of age, and no one’s even said happy birthday to them,” she added.
Laura has fond memories of flicking through the Women’s Weekly Cake Book with her brother, tossing up which birthday cake they each wanted.
“Mum always made us amazing birthday cakes. When I look back at the photos, it looks like a homemade cake that a mother tried to make, but to my brother and I, we just thought it was absolutely the most amazing thing ever.”
“This really stuck with me,” she said. “That feeling of being celebrated, we’d be surrounded by our family. I couldn’t tell you what I got as a present, but I remember the cakes.”
I just wanted to share that joy in those memories with children who are going through a hell of a tough time.
Laura has officially been The Cake Detective for five years, and the organisation has made over a whopping 3000 cakes for Kiwi kids in need.
“When you get to see the reactions of the kids, it just makes it all worthwhile.”
Such incredible work from Laura and her team!
