Local Bakery Partners with CASA to Give Birthday Cakes to Children

(Gulfport, MS, October 9, 2024)-While it may come as a surprise, not all children receive birthday cakes each year growing up.

Twenty years ago, CASA’s executive director, Cynthia Chauvin asked a young person who spent the majority of her teenage years in foster care what might the CASA program do to better the lives of children in foster care.

Without hesitation, she exclaimed “make sure they have birthday cakes and get to blow out candles.”

Soon after, Candles of Hope was established. A project that ensured that all children served by the CASA program would not only get a cake and candles, but also allow them to select what type of cake and icing they would like.

“Giving our kids choices, even those as simple as selecting their cake, allows them to have a voice,” Chauvin states.

Within the last year, Chauvin’s program in Hancock County expanded to serve foster children in Harrison and Stone Counties.

While the program’s primary goal remains recruiting, training, and supporting volunteers who serve as advocates for these innocent child victims, the birthday cake project certainly has remained near to Chauvin’s heart.

In early October CASA reached out to a local Stone County business that just so happens to have deep roots in Harrison County to see what it might cost to purchase cakes for the children in those two counties.

Danielle White and husband Gordon own and operate Quality Bakery, which has a 75-year history of service to the community. Less than thirty minutes after that chance meeting, the White’s received a call from a family friend who wanted to order a birthday cake for her late son who tragically passed away last year.

During Danielle’s call with Rachel McGill, she also mentioned that if she came across another child or family who couldn’t afford a cake that she would be willing to pay it forward in honor of her son, Kaiden. Danielle immediately thought of CASA and the children that they serve.

Danielle and Gordon committed with Rachel to start funding and supplying birthday cakes. Danielle simply stated, “God provides.” With over 300 children in foster care in these two counties, this is big undertaking for a small bakery in tough economic times, but that isn’t standing in the way.

On Wednesday, October 9th Kaiden’s mother, Rachel McGill met at the Gulfport Quality Bakery location along with Danielle and Gordon White and representatives from CASA to pick up Kaiden’s cake, honor him on his actual birthday and to finalize details on the project that includes giving it a new name, “Kaiden’s Candles of Hope”.

In the coming week, the first birthday cakes will be made at Quality Bakery and the CASA volunteers will be delivering the cakes to their children.

If you would like to donate to Kaiden’s Candles of Hope birthday cake project visit www.casasouthms.org/donate. For more information on volunteering or supporting CASA and the birthday cake project, please call 228.344.0419.