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Baking birthday cakes for kids in need
A metro Atlanta high school junior is putting his passion for baking to good use by making birthday cakes for kids who may not otherwise have one on their special day.
ATLANTA - You may think a birthday cake is a staple for your yearly celebration, but some kids have never had their own birthday cake. That's where the organization Cake4Kids comes in. They help kids in need get their own personalized, homemade cake for their big day, and one local teenager is helping with the mission.
When Dylan Forbes-Roberts isn't on the rugby pitch, he's in the kitchen.
"Over the years, I've gone from just pouring flour in the bowl to actually making cakes, which is cool," he said.
The Midtown High School junior's passion for baking started in preschool. He says he started getting more serious about his craft when he was 9.
"I think I was about 9. This is my mom's favorite story. I asked her how business works, and she said, 'I'll show you.' I already knew how to make cookies, and my dad made me a sign that said 'Dylan's Bakeshop' on it. They put me out on the street corner, and everything I made, the proceeds went to an animal shelter. We called it 'Saving Barkley,' which was our old dog," he told Good Day's Lindsay Tuman.
Now Forbes-Roberts continues to use his hobby to give back, making treats for the less fortunate.
"That one is more like stuff you can hand out, so cookies, brownies - I always ask people there what they want next. It's just nice to be able to help out that way," he said.
He also bakes birthday cakes for kids in need through Cake4Kids, which helps kids in need get a birthday cake. Shannon McCray is the Atlanta ambassador for the nationwide organization.
"Cake4Kids is an organization that is directly intentionally targeted for at-risk youth. And that is any kid who maybe just had a hard path, and some of those children might be in foster care, some might be in group homes, some end up in shelters. But we wanted to find a way to love on those kids in a really simple and intentional way," McCray said.
These are homemade cakes personalized for each child, all free of charge. McCray says bakers claim the requests almost as soon as they come in.
"We want to know your favorite color, we want to know what you're into, we want to know your favorite flavors, we really want this to be a special thing for our kids, so the more we know about them, the more our bakers can dream big and make something really special," McCray said.
Dylan says whether it's a birthday cake for a child or a cookie for someone in need, he's glad to make everyone's day a little sweeter.
"You're doing a nice thing, and you don't necessarily have to be there to get the gratitude. You just know they're going to enjoy it," he said.
Cake4Kids is always looking for more organizations to work with to serve more children in need and more bakers to help. You can learn more here.