Early this year, Dawn Foods announced a three-year partnership with national nonprofit For Goodness Cakes, an organization started in 2016 that matches volunteer bakers with community organizations to celebrate children in foster care and youth overcoming adversity on special days.

As the first corporate sponsor of For Goodness Cakes, Dawn is helping open four new For Goodness Cakes chapters in Jackson, Michigan; Kansas City, Missouri; Louisville, Kentucky; and Seattle, Washington. Dawn is also serving as a sponsor for five existing chapters in Houston, Los Angeles, Detroit, Northern New Jersey, and Minneapolis.

“Celebrating people matters, and Dawn believes everyone deserves to have their birthday recognized,” says Sarah Richmond, director, Dawn corporate giving. “We were inspired by the mission of For Goodness Cakes, and immediately saw the shared values between our organizations. Celebrating and supporting people is part of the DNA of our company, and we look forward to the positive impact Dawn and For Goodness Cakes can have together.”

In early October, the company held its opening event at the Dawn Innovation Studio in Jackson, Michigan. Members of the bake team, including your author, were fortunate enough to attend this unique session, which drove awareness of the new chapter opening and Dawn’s partnership with For Goodness Cakes. Attendees learned cake decorating techniques from the Dawn culinary team, led by corporate executive chef and director of the culinary & innovation studio Melissa Trimmer.

Cakes made at this event by the enthusiastic volunteers were donated to Jackson youth organizations. These volunteers must pass a food safety course and orientation before baking. Once completed, they are given access to an online cake request calendar and can sign up to fulfill those requests.

For Goodness Cakes is always looking for new volunteers to join the cause. They can apply through the organization’s website, and youth organizations interested in receiving a cake for a kid can apply to become a partner on the website as well.

Following the event, Sarah Richmond spoke about the company’s work in giving back to the community.

“Dawn has been around for over 100 years. We celebrate life’s sweet moments through bakery. Bakery is our DNA, especially cakes,” she said. “Helping those who might otherwise not be celebrated . . . if we can inspire people to do that through a birthday cake, what’s not to love?”

Dawn hopes to use its connections to help build the For Goodness Cakes network of volunteer bakers. Although its mostly home bakers at the moment, the goal is to get more professionals to use their experience to create wonderful cakes for those in need.

“Dawn sells to thousands of retail bakers across the country, many of whom are already in existing and soon to be opening chapters, so we’re putting the word out to our customers.”