Post 3

Sugar 4 Smiles

Hello everyone, thanks for tuning in to my third post. Hopefully you guys are reading and staying interested in my personal blog. Today, I am going to be talking about my idea to help alleviate food insecurity in Houston.

Let’s begin by talking about something almost everyone reading can relate to, having a birthday cake. Many of us grew up with the joy of having candles to blow out once a year with family and friends. It was our special day. The whole year was spent looking toward your birthday and slicing into that delicious cake. Now just imagine if the idea of a birthday cake was just a wish. That feeling of specialness and joy was not possible. This is what many children in the Houston area experience every year.

If you recall from my second post, about 23.6% of children in Houston live in food insecure households. These children experience an awful feeling of not knowing if they will have healthy food or snacks in their home on a daily basis. A basic need has become a source of worry and doubt. These children haven’t even thought about having a birthday cake for themselves. They may not have had the opportunity to experience the joy of blowing out those candles on their special day.

What Sugar 4 Smiles aims to achieve is giving these kids the feeling of having their cake. A simple non-perishable kit that includes a pan, cake mix, icing, a can of Sprite and birthday candles could become a source of joy and bring smiles to the faces of these children. In addition, this becomes a fun activity for kids to experience with their loved ones. I can recall baking cakes with my parents on mine and my brothers’ birthdays. We would spend time shopping for the ingredients and then spend the afternoon gathered in the kitchen, baking and decorating. We would talk and laugh, and make a bit of a mess in all the fun! Those memories stay with me forever and I’m sure any child would feel the same way making their own memories.

That’s all I have for you today, hope you enjoyed. Until next time…stay healthy and enjoy the first month of summer!