January 13, 2025 • 24 mins
Ever wondered how a simple cake can transform a child's life? In episode 142 of "Carlsbad: People, Purpose, and Impact," I dive into this heartwarming topic with the incredible Cari Yuen, San Diego County ambassador for Cake For Kids. From her roots in Hawaii to a dynamic career in Silicon Valley with tech giants like Boeing and Amazon, Cari's journey is nothing short of inspiring. But it's her current mission that truly captivates.
After relocating to Carlsbad for a purposeful sabbatical, Cari has poured her heart into Cake4Kids , a nonprofit delivering birthday joy to foster children and underserved youth. Cari shares how this initiative, started by Libby Grunder in 2010, is more than just about cakes—it's about spreading smiles and boosting self-esteem.
Join us as Cari recounts touching stories of the impact a cake can have, the pressing need for volunteers in North County, and the challenges foster youth face. Discover how you can make a difference, whether by baking, donating, or offering support. Tune in to feel inspired and learn how you can help ensure no child's special day goes unnoticed. Visit the Cake4Kids website to get involved. Don’t miss this heartfelt episode!
Cari Yuen's Bio:
Cari has been the San Diego County Ambassador since June 2024. Cari recently moved to the area from Silicon Valley to retire early in order to support the local community and see the world. Cari spent most of her career in Silicon Valley working for tech start ups and well known companies such as Oracle and Amazon Web Services.
Cari and her daughter became Cake4Kids volunteer bakers over 10 years ago when Cake4Kids opened its first chapter in the San Francisco Bay Area. She brings a variety of volunteer experience, where most of her time was spent with the Girl Scouts as a leader, day camp activities coordinator, and community service advisor.
In her spare time, Cari enjoys dancing hula, crafting, baking, hiking and traveling.
Connect with Cari:
If you’d like to donate or volunteer go to:
https://donorbox.org/cake4kids-san-diego
If you’re a business owner and would like to find out how you can help, contact Cari at cari@cake4kids.org
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61562874337366&mibextid=LQQJ4d
Cake4Kids San Diego Chapter website: https://www.cake4kids.org/chapters/sandiego
Did this episode have a special impact on you? Share how it impacted you
Carlsbad Podcast Social Links:
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Sponsor: This show is sponsored and produced by DifMix Productions. To learn more about starting your own podcast, visit www.DifMix.com/podcasting
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Intro (00:02):
Carlsbad, people, purpose, and impact, an
essential podcast for those wholive, work, visit, and play in
Carlsbad.
Bret (00:13):
Good morning and welcome everyone. My name is Brett
Schonzenbach. I'm the presidentand CEO of the Carlsbad Chamber
of Commerce. I'm your hosttoday, and I'm excited to have
with me Carrie Ewan. Carrie isthe San Diego County ambassador
for Cake For Kids.
Good morning, Cari.
Cari (00:29):
Good morning.
Bret (00:30):
Great to have you here this morning. Thanks for coming
down.
Cari (00:33):
Well, thank you for having me here. It's a pleasure.
Bret (00:36):
Absolutely. So I was looking, in your background a
little bit and, it wasinteresting. It looks like, I
saw that you went to theUniversity of Hawaii. Are you
from Hawaii?
Cari (00:47):
Yes. I am.
Bret (00:48):
Okay. So you were born and raised there type of thing?
Cari (00:50):
Yes.
Bret (00:51):
Very nice. And then after graduating though, you came to
the Bay Area.
Cari (00:57):
Yes. I decided to work in Silicon Valley back in the day.
Bret (01:00):
And looks like you were well, you you had a quite a few
interesting stops, Boeing, in,back in the eighties, and then a
whole litany of well known nameslike Sun Microsystems, Oracle,
and more. Tell us about yourjourney as a professional
through all that time.
Cari (01:21):
I started off as an engineer. But even though I was
an engineer, I knew that Ineeded help people even back
then. I was lucky that Bowenrecruited me and and moved me
off the island. And, I met myhusband and which actually was
beneficial because he lived inSan Francisco. So we ended up
(01:43):
settling in, the Silicon Valleyarea and I was fortunate to work
with some of the top companies.
And towards the end of my careerwhere I've earl it allowed me to
early retire and volunteer forcake for kids. I, actually ended
up working at folks places likeAmazon Web Services Yeah. As
(02:06):
well. And that was interesting.And, I like to be involved with,
like, the leading edgetechnology with the latest
company which was Domino DataLabs, and they focused on
machine learning and AI,systems.
Bret (02:22):
Very interesting. It looks like also in in that, journey
with all these well knowncompanies, you did do some, work
with startups. What was it? Newnew New
Cari (02:34):
New Relic.
Bret (02:35):
New Relic? Yeah. I can't read my own writing here. New
Relic and some others. Whatwhat, how is that different,
like, working for a startup inSilicon Valley versus the, you
know, the big names that youworked for?
Cari (02:51):
Well, the reason I ended up going with startups is
because you could pave your ownpath and had a voice
Bret (02:57):
Mhmm.
Cari (02:57):
And wear multiple hats. So it was a great way to leverage
all my experience over the yearsand be able to actually create
from the ground up programs andI ended up supporting this sales
and field, technical field. Andit was a great joy to make a
difference.
Bret (03:16):
Now, what did New Relic do? What's their what was their
niche?
Cari (03:19):
They actually do monitoring, for, various areas
on, from applications to thehealth of your network.
Bret (03:28):
Mhmm.
Cari (03:29):
And there always seems to be a niche within all of these
startups. Sure. That there's aneed but their needs have
changed, over the years becauseof the growth in the, high-tech
industry with the net networkingarea to applications, even
applications and the way they'vedeveloped has changed. And now
(03:50):
with AI machine learning,there's a whole brand new set of
startups.
Bret (03:54):
Yeah. Yeah. It's so fascinating. You know, you were
in the epicenter of innovationthere in Silicon Valley for
many, many years. And so what Isaw on your I believe it was
your LinkedIn profile.
Now it says you're officially onsabbatical break full time.
Cari (04:13):
Yes. Actually, it's early retirement. I don't think I'm
gonna go back, but I just putthat on there just in case
something comes up.
Bret (04:20):
So sabbatical, which is couched in, in early retirement.
But, you know, all those yearsbeing up there, why come down to
Carlsbad?
Cari (04:32):
So my husband and I, wanted to move somewhere else
that had better weather, and hada community that we can make a
difference. So our goal topgoals right now in early
retirement was to support acommunity, and volunteer, and
then travel the world and spendmuch time with the family.
Bret (04:52):
Love it. Oh, that's those are great. And now is your
husband, retired at this pointtoo? Okay. So you guys are both
on this, sabbatical air quotes.
I love it. And so the, the firstwell, I don't I shouldn't say
the first place. That's notfair. I have no idea if this is
your first place. But one of theplaces that you have decided to
(05:13):
volunteer and dive in, and thisstarted back when you were still
in the Bay Area, was Cake ForKids.
So how did you get connected tothem initially?
Cari (05:24):
So I was looking actually for a nonprofit to support with
my daughter, who actually becamevery interested in designing
cakes. And this was a young ageof 12.
Bret (05:36):
Okay.
Cari (05:37):
And she and I love to give back to the community and just
so happened I came across thisorganization as it was first
starting and this was over 12 or13 years ago.
Bret (05:48):
Yep.
Cari (05:48):
And, actually, I had the fortunately to meet Libby, and
she actually onboarded us, gaveus an orientation and it was
amazing how my daughter and Icould provide these cakes for
kids who wouldn't have had one,whether they're a foster kid or
they're homeless, and we canmake a a little bit difference.
(06:11):
At the same time, it was abenefit for my daughter because
she wanted to practice her tradewhere she's actually a
professional cake designer rightnow.
Bret (06:19):
Is that right? Oh, amazing. What a cool, origin
story for her and how she gotstarted. Okay. We're gonna take
a brief pause.
We're talking to Carrie Ewan,the San Diego County ambassador
for Cake For Kids. And when wecome back, we're gonna really
dive into all that Cake For Kidsdoes and how it got started and
(06:40):
how you can get involved. Sostick with us. We'll be right
back. So, Carrie, before we tooka break, you were sharing how
(07:50):
you and your daughter gotstarted about 12 years ago when
you were still in the Bay Areawith Cake For Kids.
And now your daughter is a is acake maker. And now is did she
also come down south or is sheup in Northern California still?
Cari (08:05):
Actually, she took a detour to Texas
Bret (08:08):
Okay.
Cari (08:08):
And is working at a cake, design place called, Legacy
Cakes and Grapevine, which isnear Dallas. But she's decided
that she rather live in SanDiego
Bret (08:22):
Oh.
Cari (08:23):
With the family as well. She enjoys the weather and she's
actually moving here, nextmonth.
Bret (08:29):
Right on. That'll be great. We'll we will welcome
her. You have to bring her intothe chamber so we can welcome
her when she gets here.
Cari (08:37):
That would be great. Yeah. She actually turns out, to be
our social media lead for CakeFor Kids.
Bret (08:42):
Oh, perfect. Perfect. Perfect. Yeah. That younger
generation's really good at thatstuff.
So That's
Cari (08:47):
right. That's why I recruited her.
Bret (08:50):
So, Cake For Kids, it was founded in 2010 by Libby
Grunder? Yes. Am I saying right?Grunder? And it looks like you
were got involved not too longafter that.
I saw a pretty cool story aboutwhat inspired Libby. Do you
wanna share with everybody whatgot her going and what got the
(09:11):
whole thing in motion in thefirst place?
Cari (09:14):
Actually, I personally spoke to her, about this and she
actually had recognized that ina different, different city
outside of the California, shehad heard about another
organization that was providingcakes through volunteer bakers
for kids who wouldn't havenormally, received a cake and
(09:37):
she thought, well, why don't Ijust start this? Well, her
vision has lived on. It's beenamazing. Unfortunately, about,
let's say 10 years ago, shepassed away with cancer.
Bret (09:47):
Mhmm.
Cari (09:48):
But I had the fortune to see her at a cake bake off,
which was a contest and afundraiser, and my daughter
entered a contest that sheactually won her category, of
course. But we actually got achance to see her even though
she was ill and, she still waspresent at that, event. And,
(10:10):
unfortunately, we had no ideathat she was gonna pass aft
right after that. But her legacylives on. It's amazing.
She just started with a fewvolunteers, which I think we
were part of the very earlyones.
Bret (10:22):
Yep.
Cari (10:23):
And now just in the Bay Area alone, they just hit their
35,000 kick delivered. Ain'tthat amazing?
Bret (10:30):
That is amazing.
Cari (10:30):
That's not across the country. That's just the San
Francisco Bay Area.
Bret (10:34):
Wow. That is amazing. Yeah. I had saw something, where
Libby had described, you know, astory of a foster youth who, you
know, was in a foster home andprobably was, I don't know, 10
years old. I from what Iremember from the story.
And, the foster mom had had madeher a chocolate cake for her
(10:59):
birthday, and the the girl burstout crying and ran to her room.
And the mom was very like, oh,no. What did I do wrong? You
know? And she followed her andsaid, I'm sorry.
You know, I can make you adifferent flavor. I I I didn't
know, you know, what's and thegirl's like, oh, no. That's not
the problem. She's like, I'venever had a cake in my entire
life. You know?
(11:20):
And and that seems to be part ofwhat inspired Libby. I mean,
it's just amazing, amazing,story. So talk to us talk to us
about your San Diego chapter andhow it works, how many people
are involved and how, you know,how you guys do what you do and
and how people can participate.
Cari (11:42):
Okay. Well, what it might be helpful is could I just
share, Kick 4 Kids, not acrossthe country but just in San
Diego. Just some challenges andthe type of youth that we're
supporting
Bret (11:56):
Yes, please.
Cari (11:57):
Before I get into that. Is that okay?
Bret (11:58):
Yeah.
Cari (11:59):
Alright. So first of all, the mission that Libby had put
forth was, quote, we deliversmiles to foster children and
underserved youth. And what wemean by youth, it actually
expanded, from being under 18 to24 because sadly, their
statistics will show that fosterkids, when they turn of adult
(12:21):
age, they tend to have atendency to go homeless.
Bret (12:24):
Mhmm.
Cari (12:25):
And they still need extra support. Yeah. And we're
fortunate there are agencieshere in San Diego, especially,
interesting enough, the YMCA hasa wonderful program I learned
of, where they actually helpmake sure that they have some
workforce training and, cansettle and not become homeless
because they a lot of thembecome at risk. And then
(12:48):
continue the mission. So wedeliver smiles to foster
children and underserved youthby baking and delivering
birthday cakes for them.
We aim to show them love andraise their self esteem with
simply simple gifts of theirspecial day. And we've gotten so
many thank yous from the parentsof the kids that receive it or,
(13:10):
foster parents. The kids aredelighted and, what we do is
it's very simple. We have bakersthat are volunteers across the
county and we have over 400volunteers right now.
Bret (13:25):
Wow.
Cari (13:27):
But we are lacking volunteers in the North County
where there seems to be a higherhigher need. And, unfortunately,
there have been some cakes andsome treats that are not
delivered, which breaks myheart. These agencies, we
partner with them and so it'sreally we work with the
caseworkers and we have over a100 agencies across the county
(13:52):
and the North County seems to begrowing, especially, in Vista,
San Marcos and Escondido, whereI'm hoping here in Carlsbad and
the surrounding cities that wecould I more of you could step
up and help along with evenbusinesses could help us as
well. So if I could, could Igive you a few stats?
Bret (14:15):
Sure.
Cari (14:16):
Yeah. About these these youth. Those that are in foster
care, one child in the fostercare system enters the programs,
every 2 minutes. Homeless andlow income, 1 child in every 30
in the US is homeless. Domesticviolence, 15.5000000 American
(14:41):
children live in families wheredomestic violence occurs at
least once in the past year.
Especially here in San Diego,there are quite a bit of
refugees and asylees. 40% ofworld's displaced people are
children. 30 to 4 34,000,000.
Bret (14:58):
That's a lot.
Cari (14:59):
Yeah. We have quite a bit given we're near the border.
Sure. And this one shocked me.Human trafficking.
60% of 17, 500 people aretrafficked in the US each year
and many are foster youths andoff often targeted. Yeah. Yeah.
And so these are the agencies wesupport and, it's been really
(15:23):
sad. I mean, the last, agencythat just joined us, that we're
starting to support even has asafe parking, that they, provide
the families that live in thecar.
Bret (15:37):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So safe parking lot. So walk me through
how this actually works.
So let's say somebody listeningsays, oh, I I wanna help. And so
do they get told, oh, well,somebody's having a birthday on
such and such date, and you justyou bake a cake at home. And do
they give you guidance? Theirfavorite is this or that? Or how
(15:57):
how does it work?
Cari (15:58):
It's a really well oiled machine. There's actually a
portal that the agencies and thecaseworkers go in and they get
requests from, their parents ortheir foster parents. And, they
you can enter if you'recelebrating birthdays,
adoptions, if there's an actualevent like Halloween at the
(16:20):
actual center that's supportingthe youth. It could also be
graduation. So any celebratory,not just birthdays.
It also is other than justcakes. It could be other treats
like brownies and cookies,especially if it's an event. And
so they go into the portal. Theyenter what they would like, the
date, the time, where todeliver. And if it's a cake,
(16:44):
well, the the kids are just,really lucky because it's a
custom cake just for them.
Mhmm. And so it actually willask you what flavor they'd like,
what the theme is, and what towrite as far as the message
goes. And the volunteers gothrough a brief orientation to
make sure there's food safety,and they know how to best
(17:06):
package it, so that it's foodsafe, to then, and then what
happens then is once that'sentered, the volunteer will go
in and see if they're availableand if they feel comfortable,
some of the making some of theseamazing cakes, because some of
them are quite complex.
Bret (17:24):
I'm sure.
Cari (17:25):
But they all look great and, everyone takes their turn,
and just finds, someone tosupport and they deliver it. But
like I said, about maybe 90% ofthem get delivered, but there is
this few of them that don't, andit seems to be in North County.
So I'm here and hoping torecruit more volunteers.
Bret (17:45):
Yeah. So when you say there's a few that don't get
delivered, you're saying there'sthe need has been expressed in
the portal, but there's nobodyto match them up with to take
care of it. Yes. Oh, I see. Oh,boy.
Okay. Well, that's why we'redoing these interviews. Right?
Get the word out and get morepeople, aware of what amazing
you work you guys do. So, and tofind out more, your website, I
(18:12):
believe, is cake, the letter 4,cake for kids with ans, dot org,
and then forward slash chapters,with an s, forward slash San
Diego.
Cari (18:25):
That's it.
Bret (18:25):
Yeah. Cake for kids, and that's the number 4. Cake for
kids dot org forward slashchapters, with an s, forward
slash San Diego. And so they canfind out more about you, about,
the San Diego chapter, and abouthow they can get trained. So the
training, is it, is it, an inperson training?
(18:47):
Is it a virtual?
Cari (18:48):
It's a virtual.
Bret (18:48):
Oh, nice. So it's super convenient.
Cari (18:50):
Yeah. There've been amazingly so many volunteers
that I think they hold it everyweek.
Bret (18:57):
Oh, excellent.
Cari (18:58):
Yeah. But that's across the country. So you actually
would take orientation fromothers, across other areas.
Bret (19:05):
And you and I were chatting just before, you know,
we turned the microphones onhere. And, you were saying to me
that there actually, at thispoint, aren't that many chapters
across the country. We're kindof fortunate that this is here
in San Diego. How many if youwere to guess, how many chapters
are there nationwide these days?
Cari (19:23):
I think there's a dozen. There's, some in the East Coast,
handful in the Central, US. Andthen in California, I think
we're, there's about 4 or 5chapters in California.
Bret (19:40):
Okay. Yeah. Which is where it started, of course. And so
that makes the that makes sense.Plus, we got a big state even
though
Cari (19:49):
Well, I'll share with you though. Interesting enough, we
don't have a chapter in OrangeCounty. So I get pinged every
now and then in inquiry. How canthey help? How can they help?
Which is amazing that it's thesome of them are aware of what
we do. But there's Los Angelesand there's San Diego, but
there's no one in there's nonein Orange County.
Bret (20:06):
Interesting. Well, again, you know, one of the interesting
things about podcasts is youreally don't know where they go.
Like, we have listeners randomlyon the East Coast and, you know,
internationally and all these,you know, so who knows? This
could go somewhere and somebodycould be listening right now in
Orange County thinking, I wannastart that. So, you know
Cari (20:27):
And that's actually true. Yeah. That would be great if
someone would.
Bret (20:30):
So there we go. Anywhere you're listening, if if you
don't know, if there's a achapter in your area, reach out
to cake for kids.org and findout. And maybe maybe this is
your calling to get one started.But North County residents,
Carrie needs you. We we got wegot needs that aren't being
fulfilled from this, this,demographic here.
(20:52):
So and I had seen somewherethat, 440,000 children are in
foster care nationwide. So it'sa it's a lot. And, as you
pointed out, there's this gapwhen they hit 18, and they, you
know, air quotes, age out of thesystem that can be very
challenging for them. And solots of support needed there. I
(21:17):
really appreciate you gettinginvolved with our chamber and
bringing this up and bringingour awareness to it because we
gotta this is important.
Cari (21:28):
Thank you. And, I just wanted to note that those of you
that are businesses couldactually help us out because I
am looking for venues, to bringour community of volunteer
bakers together, and then holdworkshops with them to help up
their skills, and also I thinkit's a great way and a win win
(21:50):
to promote business, and giveback to community. Also on the
website, there's a QR code, toactually donate as well. So if
you're not a baker but want todonate to our cause because our
operations, it does take a lotof effort, and also I'd like to
start bringing together inperson, the volunteer bakers, so
(22:15):
that we can build a strongcommunity of volunteers to
support, all of these youth.
Bret (22:20):
Wonderful. Wonderful. So what what size of a venue do you
imagine for bringing your bakerstogether to increase their
skills and to, you know, thatkind of are you talking about
for 20 people, for a 100 people?What what are you looking for?
We're gonna put this
Cari (22:34):
out there. I would say for about, I'd say start at 25 and I
have to see the interest.
Bret (22:40):
Sure.
Cari (22:41):
May it could grow and that we may need something bigger,
but open to ideas for many ofthe businesses that, we could
bring together some of these,bakers.
Bret (22:52):
Perfect. Alright. There you have it. Businesses. If you
could, if you have space for a agroup gathering of 25 people,
they would like your help.
And so, Carrie, can they get intouch with you personally at
that website that we mentioned,cake for kids dot org slash
chapter slash sandiego?
Cari (23:13):
Yes. They can. My email address is there. It's simply a
cari@cakeforkids.org.
Bret (23:18):
And we should probably let people know Carrie is cari.
Cari@cakeforkids.org. Perfect.Well, thank you so much for
coming down and sharing with ustoday and, you know, getting us
all much better informed aboutthis opportunity. I think it's
wonderful what you're doing.
I'm so glad you're here and andin North County. So we're we're
(23:41):
gonna fill this need.
Cari (23:42):
Appreciate it.
Bret (23:43):
Yeah. Great to have you.
outro (23:46):
Thanks for joining us today on our Carlsbad People,
Purpose, and Impact podcast. Ifyou got value out of our episode
today, please hit the followbutton on your favorite podcast
app, and please tell a friend.Can't wait to see you next time
on Carlsbad People, Purpose, andImpact.
Carlsbad, people, purpose, and impact, an
essential podcast for those wholive, work, visit, and play in
Carlsbad.
Bret (00:13):
Good morning and welcome everyone. My name is Brett
Schonzenbach. I'm the presidentand CEO of the Carlsbad Chamber
of Commerce. I'm your hosttoday, and I'm excited to have
with me Carrie Ewan. Carrie isthe San Diego County ambassador
for Cake For Kids.
Good morning, Cari.
Cari (00:29):
Good morning.
Bret (00:30):
Great to have you here this morning. Thanks for coming
down.
Cari (00:33):
Well, thank you for having me here. It's a pleasure.
Bret (00:36):
Absolutely. So I was looking, in your background a
little bit and, it wasinteresting. It looks like, I
saw that you went to theUniversity of Hawaii. Are you
from Hawaii?
Cari (00:47):
Yes. I am.
Bret (00:48):
Okay. So you were born and raised there type of thing?
Cari (00:50):
Yes.
Bret (00:51):
Very nice. And then after graduating though, you came to
the Bay Area.
Cari (00:57):
Yes. I decided to work in Silicon Valley back in the day.
Bret (01:00):
And looks like you were well, you you had a quite a few
interesting stops, Boeing, in,back in the eighties, and then a
whole litany of well known nameslike Sun Microsystems, Oracle,
and more. Tell us about yourjourney as a professional
through all that time.
Cari (01:21):
I started off as an engineer. But even though I was
an engineer, I knew that Ineeded help people even back
then. I was lucky that Bowenrecruited me and and moved me
off the island. And, I met myhusband and which actually was
beneficial because he lived inSan Francisco. So we ended up
(01:43):
settling in, the Silicon Valleyarea and I was fortunate to work
with some of the top companies.
And towards the end of my careerwhere I've earl it allowed me to
early retire and volunteer forcake for kids. I, actually ended
up working at folks places likeAmazon Web Services Yeah. As
(02:06):
well. And that was interesting.And, I like to be involved with,
like, the leading edgetechnology with the latest
company which was Domino DataLabs, and they focused on
machine learning and AI,systems.
Bret (02:22):
Very interesting. It looks like also in in that, journey
with all these well knowncompanies, you did do some, work
with startups. What was it? Newnew New
Cari (02:34):
New Relic.
Bret (02:35):
New Relic? Yeah. I can't read my own writing here. New
Relic and some others. Whatwhat, how is that different,
like, working for a startup inSilicon Valley versus the, you
know, the big names that youworked for?
Cari (02:51):
Well, the reason I ended up going with startups is
because you could pave your ownpath and had a voice
Bret (02:57):
Mhmm.
Cari (02:57):
And wear multiple hats. So it was a great way to leverage
all my experience over the yearsand be able to actually create
from the ground up programs andI ended up supporting this sales
and field, technical field. Andit was a great joy to make a
difference.
Bret (03:16):
Now, what did New Relic do? What's their what was their
niche?
Cari (03:19):
They actually do monitoring, for, various areas
on, from applications to thehealth of your network.
Bret (03:28):
Mhmm.
Cari (03:29):
And there always seems to be a niche within all of these
startups. Sure. That there's aneed but their needs have
changed, over the years becauseof the growth in the, high-tech
industry with the net networkingarea to applications, even
applications and the way they'vedeveloped has changed. And now
(03:50):
with AI machine learning,there's a whole brand new set of
startups.
Bret (03:54):
Yeah. Yeah. It's so fascinating. You know, you were
in the epicenter of innovationthere in Silicon Valley for
many, many years. And so what Isaw on your I believe it was
your LinkedIn profile.
Now it says you're officially onsabbatical break full time.
Cari (04:13):
Yes. Actually, it's early retirement. I don't think I'm
gonna go back, but I just putthat on there just in case
something comes up.
Bret (04:20):
So sabbatical, which is couched in, in early retirement.
But, you know, all those yearsbeing up there, why come down to
Carlsbad?
Cari (04:32):
So my husband and I, wanted to move somewhere else
that had better weather, and hada community that we can make a
difference. So our goal topgoals right now in early
retirement was to support acommunity, and volunteer, and
then travel the world and spendmuch time with the family.
Bret (04:52):
Love it. Oh, that's those are great. And now is your
husband, retired at this pointtoo? Okay. So you guys are both
on this, sabbatical air quotes.
I love it. And so the, the firstwell, I don't I shouldn't say
the first place. That's notfair. I have no idea if this is
your first place. But one of theplaces that you have decided to
(05:13):
volunteer and dive in, and thisstarted back when you were still
in the Bay Area, was Cake ForKids.
So how did you get connected tothem initially?
Cari (05:24):
So I was looking actually for a nonprofit to support with
my daughter, who actually becamevery interested in designing
cakes. And this was a young ageof 12.
Bret (05:36):
Okay.
Cari (05:37):
And she and I love to give back to the community and just
so happened I came across thisorganization as it was first
starting and this was over 12 or13 years ago.
Bret (05:48):
Yep.
Cari (05:48):
And, actually, I had the fortunately to meet Libby, and
she actually onboarded us, gaveus an orientation and it was
amazing how my daughter and Icould provide these cakes for
kids who wouldn't have had one,whether they're a foster kid or
they're homeless, and we canmake a a little bit difference.
(06:11):
At the same time, it was abenefit for my daughter because
she wanted to practice her tradewhere she's actually a
professional cake designer rightnow.
Bret (06:19):
Is that right? Oh, amazing. What a cool, origin
story for her and how she gotstarted. Okay. We're gonna take
a brief pause.
We're talking to Carrie Ewan,the San Diego County ambassador
for Cake For Kids. And when wecome back, we're gonna really
dive into all that Cake For Kidsdoes and how it got started and
(06:40):
how you can get involved. Sostick with us. We'll be right
back. So, Carrie, before we tooka break, you were sharing how
(07:50):
you and your daughter gotstarted about 12 years ago when
you were still in the Bay Areawith Cake For Kids.
And now your daughter is a is acake maker. And now is did she
also come down south or is sheup in Northern California still?
Cari (08:05):
Actually, she took a detour to Texas
Bret (08:08):
Okay.
Cari (08:08):
And is working at a cake, design place called, Legacy
Cakes and Grapevine, which isnear Dallas. But she's decided
that she rather live in SanDiego
Bret (08:22):
Oh.
Cari (08:23):
With the family as well. She enjoys the weather and she's
actually moving here, nextmonth.
Bret (08:29):
Right on. That'll be great. We'll we will welcome
her. You have to bring her intothe chamber so we can welcome
her when she gets here.
Cari (08:37):
That would be great. Yeah. She actually turns out, to be
our social media lead for CakeFor Kids.
Bret (08:42):
Oh, perfect. Perfect. Perfect. Yeah. That younger
generation's really good at thatstuff.
So That's
Cari (08:47):
right. That's why I recruited her.
Bret (08:50):
So, Cake For Kids, it was founded in 2010 by Libby
Grunder? Yes. Am I saying right?Grunder? And it looks like you
were got involved not too longafter that.
I saw a pretty cool story aboutwhat inspired Libby. Do you
wanna share with everybody whatgot her going and what got the
(09:11):
whole thing in motion in thefirst place?
Cari (09:14):
Actually, I personally spoke to her, about this and she
actually had recognized that ina different, different city
outside of the California, shehad heard about another
organization that was providingcakes through volunteer bakers
for kids who wouldn't havenormally, received a cake and
(09:37):
she thought, well, why don't Ijust start this? Well, her
vision has lived on. It's beenamazing. Unfortunately, about,
let's say 10 years ago, shepassed away with cancer.
Bret (09:47):
Mhmm.
Cari (09:48):
But I had the fortune to see her at a cake bake off,
which was a contest and afundraiser, and my daughter
entered a contest that sheactually won her category, of
course. But we actually got achance to see her even though
she was ill and, she still waspresent at that, event. And,
(10:10):
unfortunately, we had no ideathat she was gonna pass aft
right after that. But her legacylives on. It's amazing.
She just started with a fewvolunteers, which I think we
were part of the very earlyones.
Bret (10:22):
Yep.
Cari (10:23):
And now just in the Bay Area alone, they just hit their
35,000 kick delivered. Ain'tthat amazing?
Bret (10:30):
That is amazing.
Cari (10:30):
That's not across the country. That's just the San
Francisco Bay Area.
Bret (10:34):
Wow. That is amazing. Yeah. I had saw something, where
Libby had described, you know, astory of a foster youth who, you
know, was in a foster home andprobably was, I don't know, 10
years old. I from what Iremember from the story.
And, the foster mom had had madeher a chocolate cake for her
(10:59):
birthday, and the the girl burstout crying and ran to her room.
And the mom was very like, oh,no. What did I do wrong? You
know? And she followed her andsaid, I'm sorry.
You know, I can make you adifferent flavor. I I I didn't
know, you know, what's and thegirl's like, oh, no. That's not
the problem. She's like, I'venever had a cake in my entire
life. You know?
(11:20):
And and that seems to be part ofwhat inspired Libby. I mean,
it's just amazing, amazing,story. So talk to us talk to us
about your San Diego chapter andhow it works, how many people
are involved and how, you know,how you guys do what you do and
and how people can participate.
Cari (11:42):
Okay. Well, what it might be helpful is could I just
share, Kick 4 Kids, not acrossthe country but just in San
Diego. Just some challenges andthe type of youth that we're
supporting
Bret (11:56):
Yes, please.
Cari (11:57):
Before I get into that. Is that okay?
Bret (11:58):
Yeah.
Cari (11:59):
Alright. So first of all, the mission that Libby had put
forth was, quote, we deliversmiles to foster children and
underserved youth. And what wemean by youth, it actually
expanded, from being under 18 to24 because sadly, their
statistics will show that fosterkids, when they turn of adult
(12:21):
age, they tend to have atendency to go homeless.
Bret (12:24):
Mhmm.
Cari (12:25):
And they still need extra support. Yeah. And we're
fortunate there are agencieshere in San Diego, especially,
interesting enough, the YMCA hasa wonderful program I learned
of, where they actually helpmake sure that they have some
workforce training and, cansettle and not become homeless
because they a lot of thembecome at risk. And then
(12:48):
continue the mission. So wedeliver smiles to foster
children and underserved youthby baking and delivering
birthday cakes for them.
We aim to show them love andraise their self esteem with
simply simple gifts of theirspecial day. And we've gotten so
many thank yous from the parentsof the kids that receive it or,
(13:10):
foster parents. The kids aredelighted and, what we do is
it's very simple. We have bakersthat are volunteers across the
county and we have over 400volunteers right now.
Bret (13:25):
Wow.
Cari (13:27):
But we are lacking volunteers in the North County
where there seems to be a higherhigher need. And, unfortunately,
there have been some cakes andsome treats that are not
delivered, which breaks myheart. These agencies, we
partner with them and so it'sreally we work with the
caseworkers and we have over a100 agencies across the county
(13:52):
and the North County seems to begrowing, especially, in Vista,
San Marcos and Escondido, whereI'm hoping here in Carlsbad and
the surrounding cities that wecould I more of you could step
up and help along with evenbusinesses could help us as
well. So if I could, could Igive you a few stats?
Bret (14:15):
Sure.
Cari (14:16):
Yeah. About these these youth. Those that are in foster
care, one child in the fostercare system enters the programs,
every 2 minutes. Homeless andlow income, 1 child in every 30
in the US is homeless. Domesticviolence, 15.5000000 American
(14:41):
children live in families wheredomestic violence occurs at
least once in the past year.
Especially here in San Diego,there are quite a bit of
refugees and asylees. 40% ofworld's displaced people are
children. 30 to 4 34,000,000.
Bret (14:58):
That's a lot.
Cari (14:59):
Yeah. We have quite a bit given we're near the border.
Sure. And this one shocked me.Human trafficking.
60% of 17, 500 people aretrafficked in the US each year
and many are foster youths andoff often targeted. Yeah. Yeah.
And so these are the agencies wesupport and, it's been really
(15:23):
sad. I mean, the last, agencythat just joined us, that we're
starting to support even has asafe parking, that they, provide
the families that live in thecar.
Bret (15:37):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So safe parking lot. So walk me through
how this actually works.
So let's say somebody listeningsays, oh, I I wanna help. And so
do they get told, oh, well,somebody's having a birthday on
such and such date, and you justyou bake a cake at home. And do
they give you guidance? Theirfavorite is this or that? Or how
(15:57):
how does it work?
Cari (15:58):
It's a really well oiled machine. There's actually a
portal that the agencies and thecaseworkers go in and they get
requests from, their parents ortheir foster parents. And, they
you can enter if you'recelebrating birthdays,
adoptions, if there's an actualevent like Halloween at the
(16:20):
actual center that's supportingthe youth. It could also be
graduation. So any celebratory,not just birthdays.
It also is other than justcakes. It could be other treats
like brownies and cookies,especially if it's an event. And
so they go into the portal. Theyenter what they would like, the
date, the time, where todeliver. And if it's a cake,
(16:44):
well, the the kids are just,really lucky because it's a
custom cake just for them.
Mhmm. And so it actually willask you what flavor they'd like,
what the theme is, and what towrite as far as the message
goes. And the volunteers gothrough a brief orientation to
make sure there's food safety,and they know how to best
(17:06):
package it, so that it's foodsafe, to then, and then what
happens then is once that'sentered, the volunteer will go
in and see if they're availableand if they feel comfortable,
some of the making some of theseamazing cakes, because some of
them are quite complex.
Bret (17:24):
I'm sure.
Cari (17:25):
But they all look great and, everyone takes their turn,
and just finds, someone tosupport and they deliver it. But
like I said, about maybe 90% ofthem get delivered, but there is
this few of them that don't, andit seems to be in North County.
So I'm here and hoping torecruit more volunteers.
Bret (17:45):
Yeah. So when you say there's a few that don't get
delivered, you're saying there'sthe need has been expressed in
the portal, but there's nobodyto match them up with to take
care of it. Yes. Oh, I see. Oh,boy.
Okay. Well, that's why we'redoing these interviews. Right?
Get the word out and get morepeople, aware of what amazing
you work you guys do. So, and tofind out more, your website, I
(18:12):
believe, is cake, the letter 4,cake for kids with ans, dot org,
and then forward slash chapters,with an s, forward slash San
Diego.
Cari (18:25):
That's it.
Bret (18:25):
Yeah. Cake for kids, and that's the number 4. Cake for
kids dot org forward slashchapters, with an s, forward
slash San Diego. And so they canfind out more about you, about,
the San Diego chapter, and abouthow they can get trained. So the
training, is it, is it, an inperson training?
(18:47):
Is it a virtual?
Cari (18:48):
It's a virtual.
Bret (18:48):
Oh, nice. So it's super convenient.
Cari (18:50):
Yeah. There've been amazingly so many volunteers
that I think they hold it everyweek.
Bret (18:57):
Oh, excellent.
Cari (18:58):
Yeah. But that's across the country. So you actually
would take orientation fromothers, across other areas.
Bret (19:05):
And you and I were chatting just before, you know,
we turned the microphones onhere. And, you were saying to me
that there actually, at thispoint, aren't that many chapters
across the country. We're kindof fortunate that this is here
in San Diego. How many if youwere to guess, how many chapters
are there nationwide these days?
Cari (19:23):
I think there's a dozen. There's, some in the East Coast,
handful in the Central, US. Andthen in California, I think
we're, there's about 4 or 5chapters in California.
Bret (19:40):
Okay. Yeah. Which is where it started, of course. And so
that makes the that makes sense.Plus, we got a big state even
though
Cari (19:49):
Well, I'll share with you though. Interesting enough, we
don't have a chapter in OrangeCounty. So I get pinged every
now and then in inquiry. How canthey help? How can they help?
Which is amazing that it's thesome of them are aware of what
we do. But there's Los Angelesand there's San Diego, but
there's no one in there's nonein Orange County.
Bret (20:06):
Interesting. Well, again, you know, one of the interesting
things about podcasts is youreally don't know where they go.
Like, we have listeners randomlyon the East Coast and, you know,
internationally and all these,you know, so who knows? This
could go somewhere and somebodycould be listening right now in
Orange County thinking, I wannastart that. So, you know
Cari (20:27):
And that's actually true. Yeah. That would be great if
someone would.
Bret (20:30):
So there we go. Anywhere you're listening, if if you
don't know, if there's a achapter in your area, reach out
to cake for kids.org and findout. And maybe maybe this is
your calling to get one started.But North County residents,
Carrie needs you. We we got wegot needs that aren't being
fulfilled from this, this,demographic here.
(20:52):
So and I had seen somewherethat, 440,000 children are in
foster care nationwide. So it'sa it's a lot. And, as you
pointed out, there's this gapwhen they hit 18, and they, you
know, air quotes, age out of thesystem that can be very
challenging for them. And solots of support needed there. I
(21:17):
really appreciate you gettinginvolved with our chamber and
bringing this up and bringingour awareness to it because we
gotta this is important.
Cari (21:28):
Thank you. And, I just wanted to note that those of you
that are businesses couldactually help us out because I
am looking for venues, to bringour community of volunteer
bakers together, and then holdworkshops with them to help up
their skills, and also I thinkit's a great way and a win win
(21:50):
to promote business, and giveback to community. Also on the
website, there's a QR code, toactually donate as well. So if
you're not a baker but want todonate to our cause because our
operations, it does take a lotof effort, and also I'd like to
start bringing together inperson, the volunteer bakers, so
(22:15):
that we can build a strongcommunity of volunteers to
support, all of these youth.
Bret (22:20):
Wonderful. Wonderful. So what what size of a venue do you
imagine for bringing your bakerstogether to increase their
skills and to, you know, thatkind of are you talking about
for 20 people, for a 100 people?What what are you looking for?
We're gonna put this
Cari (22:34):
out there. I would say for about, I'd say start at 25 and I
have to see the interest.
Bret (22:40):
Sure.
Cari (22:41):
May it could grow and that we may need something bigger,
but open to ideas for many ofthe businesses that, we could
bring together some of these,bakers.
Bret (22:52):
Perfect. Alright. There you have it. Businesses. If you
could, if you have space for a agroup gathering of 25 people,
they would like your help.
And so, Carrie, can they get intouch with you personally at
that website that we mentioned,cake for kids dot org slash
chapter slash sandiego?
Cari (23:13):
Yes. They can. My email address is there. It's simply a
cari@cakeforkids.org.
Bret (23:18):
And we should probably let people know Carrie is cari.
Cari@cakeforkids.org. Perfect.Well, thank you so much for
coming down and sharing with ustoday and, you know, getting us
all much better informed aboutthis opportunity. I think it's
wonderful what you're doing.
I'm so glad you're here and andin North County. So we're we're
(23:41):
gonna fill this need.
Cari (23:42):
Appreciate it.
Bret (23:43):
Yeah. Great to have you.
outro (23:46):
Thanks for joining us today on our Carlsbad People,
Purpose, and Impact podcast. Ifyou got value out of our episode
today, please hit the followbutton on your favorite podcast
app, and please tell a friend.Can't wait to see you next time
on Carlsbad People, Purpose, andImpact.
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