From our Founder

Growing up, my birthday was my favorite day of the year. The weeks leading up to that day were filled with anticipation and excitement. In middle school, I baked and delivered treats to friends for their birthdays, wishing them that same special feeling. 

In 2010, while visiting the Miami Rescue Mission’s Read On! after school program with my water polo team from Ransom Everglades School, I met and formed a bond with a young boy named Anthony. While we read together, he told me his birthday was the following week. I decided that moment that I would bake a cake for him and return with it on his birthday. I wish I could describe the joy on his face when I gave him that cake. That small gesture of a hand-delivered homemade birthday cake, along with a candle and hug, was the beginning of Bake A Wish. 

I started Bake A Wish making cakes out of my family kitchen. My mom and I hand-delivered them for the first few years. Since then, 12 years later, our team has expanded to 25 middle and high school students from different schools in our area. I am so proud and grateful to see so many young people continue to share in our mission of providing a birthday cake to every child in our community who might not otherwise receive one. We believe that small acts of kindness make a world of difference, so we are baking a difference, one cake at a time.

With love,
Katie Pfleger

“All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much.”  – George Harrison

 

 

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From our President

Thank you so much for supporting Bake a Wish and the children who will receive the cakes we bake. This is my first year as president of this wonderful organization, and I could not be more thrilled. I have been a part of Bake a Wish for three years and have loved every second of it. Over the years, our program has grown from three to about 30 bakers, now making more around 800 cakes a year.

Our mission is to provide a birthday cake for every child in Miami-Dade County who might not otherwise receive one. We have added many new programs and holiday cookie parties since Bake A Wish was started in 2011. We believe that every child should feel special on his or her birthday and that the simple gesture of a cake delivered with a smile and a Happy Birthday wish on or before that child’s special day is something every child deserves.

 As part of our program, we bake for the children who attend the after school programs at St John Bosco Catholic Church’s Leadership Learning Center in Little Havana and St. Alban’s Child Enrichment Center’s 3 locations: South Miami, Coconut Grove, Allapatah. We also continue our commitment to the children at CARE Elementary at the Miami Rescue Mission, Elizabeth Virrick Park in Coconut Grove, as well as Casa Valentina, a program to help children aging out of foster care in our community in Coconut Grove. Finally, we have recently added JAFCO, an orphanage dedicated to providing Jewish children in need with necessary care. This year, we will bake around 800 cakes! 

I cannot thank you enough for considering supporting this amazing organization. The children’s smiles when they receive these cakes make all these efforts worthwhile!

Warmly,
Anya Krislav