Transforming Lives with Cake4Kids with Cari Yuen

Carlsbad, people, purpose, and impact, an essential podcast for those who live, work, visit, and play in Carlsbad.

Good morning and welcome everyone. My name is Brett Schonzenbach. I'm the president and CEO of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce. I'm your host today, and I'm excited to have with me Carrie Ewan. Carrie is the San Diego County ambassador for Cake For Kids.

Good morning, Cari.

Good morning.

Great to have you here this morning. Thanks for coming down.

Well, thank you for having me here. It's a pleasure.

Absolutely. So I was looking, in your background a little bit and, it was interesting. It looks like, I saw that you went to the University of Hawaii. Are you from Hawaii?

Yes. I am.

Okay. So you were born and raised there type of thing?

Yes.

Very nice. And then after graduating though, you came to the Bay Area.

Yes. I decided to work in Silicon Valley back in the day.

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 names like Sun Microsystems, Oracle, and more. Tell us about your journey as a professional through all that time.

I started off as an engineer. But even though I was an engineer, I knew that I needed help people even back then. I was lucky that Bowen recruited me and and moved me off the island. And, I met my husband and which actually was beneficial because he lived in San Francisco. So we ended up settling in, the Silicon Valley area and I was fortunate to work with some of the top companies.

And towards the end of my career where I've earl it allowed me to early retire and volunteer for cake for kids. I, actually ended up working at folks places like Amazon Web Services Yeah. As well. And that was interesting. And, I like to be involved with, like, the leading edge technology with the latest company which was Domino Data Labs, and they focused on machine learning and AI, systems.

Very interesting. It looks like also in in that, journey with all these well known companies, you did do some, work with startups. What was it? New new New

New Relic.

New Relic? Yeah. I can't read my own writing here. New Relic and some others. What what, how is that different, like, working for a startup in Silicon Valley versus the, you know, the big names that you worked for?

Well, the reason I ended up going with startups is because you could pave your own path and had a voice

Mhmm.

And wear multiple hats. So it was a great way to leverage all my experience over the years and be able to actually create from the ground up programs and I ended up supporting this sales and field, technical field. And it was a great joy to make a difference.

Now, what did New Relic do? What's their what was their niche?

They actually do monitoring, for, various areas on, from applications to the health of your network.

Mhmm.

And there always seems to be a niche within all of these startups. Sure. That there's a need but their needs have changed, over the years because of the growth in the, high-tech industry with the net networking area to applications, even applications and the way they've developed has changed. And now with AI machine learning, there's a whole brand new set of startups.

Yeah. Yeah. It's so fascinating. You know, you were in the epicenter of innovation there in Silicon Valley for many, many years. And so what I saw on your I believe it was your LinkedIn profile.

Now it says you're officially on sabbatical break full time.

Yes. Actually, it's early retirement. I don't think I'm gonna go back, but I just put that on there just in case something comes up.

So sabbatical, which is couched in, in early retirement. But, you know, all those years being up there, why come down to Carlsbad?

So my husband and I, wanted to move somewhere else that had better weather, and had a community that we can make a difference. So our goal top goals right now in early retirement was to support a community, and volunteer, and then travel the world and spend much time with the family.

Love it. Oh, that's those are great. And now is your husband, retired at this point too? Okay. So you guys are both on this, sabbatical air quotes.

I love it. And so the, the first well, I don't I shouldn't say the first place. That's not fair. I have no idea if this is your first place. But one of the places that you have decided to volunteer and dive in, and this started back when you were still in the Bay Area, was Cake For Kids.

So how did you get connected to them initially?

So I was looking actually for a nonprofit to support with my daughter, who actually became very interested in designing cakes. And this was a young age of 12.

Okay.

And she and I love to give back to the community and just so happened I came across this organization as it was first starting and this was over 12 or 13 years ago.

Yep.

And, actually, I had the fortunately to meet Libby, and she actually onboarded us, gave us an orientation and it was amazing how my daughter and I could provide these cakes for kids who wouldn't have had one, whether they're a foster kid or they're homeless, and we can make a a little bit difference. At the same time, it was a benefit for my daughter because she wanted to practice her trade where she's actually a professional cake designer right now.

Is that right? Oh, amazing. What a cool, origin story for her and how she got started. 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 we come back, we're gonna really dive into all that Cake For Kids does and how it got started and how you can get involved. So stick with us. We'll be right back. So, Carrie, before we took a break, you were sharing how you and your daughter got started about 12 years ago when you were still in the Bay Area with Cake For Kids.

And now your daughter is a is a cake maker. And now is did she also come down south or is she up in Northern California still?

Actually, she took a detour to Texas

Okay.

And is working at a cake, design place called, Legacy Cakes and Grapevine, which is near Dallas. But she's decided that she rather live in San Diego

Oh.

With the family as well. She enjoys the weather and she's actually moving here, next month.

Right on. That'll be great. We'll we will welcome her. You have to bring her into the chamber so we can welcome her when she gets here.

That would be great. Yeah. She actually turns out, to be our social media lead for Cake For Kids.

Oh, perfect. Perfect. Perfect. Yeah. That younger generation's really good at that stuff.

So That's

right. That's why I recruited her.

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 long after that.

I saw a pretty cool story about what inspired Libby. Do you wanna share with everybody what got her going and what got the whole thing in motion in the first place?

Actually, I personally spoke to her, about this and she actually had recognized that in a different, different city outside of the California, she had heard about another organization that was providing cakes through volunteer bakers for kids who wouldn't have normally, received a cake and she thought, well, why don't I just start this? Well, her vision has lived on. It's been amazing. Unfortunately, about, let's say 10 years ago, she passed away with cancer.

Mhmm.

But I had the fortune to see her at a cake bake off, which was a contest and a fundraiser, and my daughter entered a contest that she actually won her category, of course. But we actually got a chance to see her even though she was ill and, she still was present at that, event. And, unfortunately, we had no idea that she was gonna pass aft right after that. But her legacy lives on. It's amazing.

She just started with a few volunteers, which I think we were part of the very early ones.

Yep.

And now just in the Bay Area alone, they just hit their 35,000 kick delivered. Ain't that amazing?

That is amazing.

That's not across the country. That's just the San Francisco Bay Area.

Wow. That is amazing. Yeah. I had saw something, where Libby had described, you know, a story of a foster youth who, you know, was in a foster home and probably was, I don't know, 10 years old. I from what I remember from the story.

And, the foster mom had had made her a chocolate cake for her birthday, and the the girl burst out 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 and said, I'm sorry.

You know, I can make you a different flavor. I I I didn't know, you know, what's and the girl's like, oh, no. That's not the problem. She's like, I've never had a cake in my entire life. You know?

And and that seems to be part of what inspired Libby. I mean, it's just amazing, amazing, story. So talk to us talk to us about your San Diego chapter and how it works, how many people are involved and how, you know, how you guys do what you do and and how people can participate.

Okay. Well, what it might be helpful is could I just share, Kick 4 Kids, not across the country but just in San Diego. Just some challenges and the type of youth that we're supporting

Yes, please.

Before I get into that. Is that okay?

Yeah.

Alright. So first of all, the mission that Libby had put forth was, quote, we deliver smiles to foster children and underserved youth. And what we mean by youth, it actually expanded, from being under 18 to 24 because sadly, their statistics will show that foster kids, when they turn of adult age, they tend to have a tendency to go homeless.

Mhmm.

And they still need extra support. Yeah. And we're fortunate there are agencies here in San Diego, especially, interesting enough, the YMCA has a wonderful program I learned of, where they actually help make sure that they have some workforce training and, can settle and not become homeless because they a lot of them become at risk. And then continue the mission. So we deliver smiles to foster children and underserved youth by baking and delivering birthday cakes for them.

We aim to show them love and raise their self esteem with simply simple gifts of their special day. And we've gotten so many thank yous from the parents of the kids that receive it or, foster parents. The kids are delighted and, what we do is it's very simple. We have bakers that are volunteers across the county and we have over 400 volunteers right now.

Wow.

But we are lacking volunteers in the North County where there seems to be a higher higher need. And, unfortunately, there have been some cakes and some treats that are not delivered, which breaks my heart. These agencies, we partner with them and so it's really we work with the caseworkers and we have over a 100 agencies across the county and the North County seems to be growing, especially, in Vista, San Marcos and Escondido, where I'm hoping here in Carlsbad and the surrounding cities that we could I more of you could step up and help along with even businesses could help us as well. So if I could, could I give you a few stats?

Sure.

Yeah. About these these youth. Those that are in foster care, one child in the foster care system enters the programs, every 2 minutes. Homeless and low income, 1 child in every 30 in the US is homeless. Domestic violence, 15.5000000 American children live in families where domestic violence occurs at least once in the past year.

Especially here in San Diego, there are quite a bit of refugees and asylees. 40% of world's displaced people are children. 30 to 4 34,000,000.

That's a lot.

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 are trafficked in the US each year and many are foster youths and off often targeted. Yeah. Yeah. And so these are the agencies we support and, it's been really sad. I mean, the last, agency that just joined us, that we're starting to support even has a safe parking, that they, provide the families that live in the car.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So safe parking lot. So walk me through how this actually works.

So let's say somebody listening says, 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 just you bake a cake at home. And do they give you guidance? Their favorite is this or that? Or how how does it work?

It's a really well oiled machine. There's actually a portal that the agencies and the caseworkers go in and they get requests from, their parents or their foster parents. And, they you can enter if you're celebrating birthdays, adoptions, if there's an actual event like Halloween at the actual center that's supporting the youth. It could also be graduation. So any celebratory, not just birthdays.

It also is other than just cakes. It could be other treats like brownies and cookies, especially if it's an event. And so they go into the portal. They enter what they would like, the date, the time, where to deliver. And if it's a cake, well, the the kids are just, really lucky because it's a custom cake just for them.

Mhmm. And so it actually will ask you what flavor they'd like, what the theme is, and what to write as far as the message goes. And the volunteers go through a brief orientation to make sure there's food safety, and they know how to best package it, so that it's food safe, to then, and then what happens then is once that's entered, the volunteer will go in and see if they're available and if they feel comfortable, some of the making some of these amazing cakes, because some of them are quite complex.

I'm sure.

But they all look great and, everyone takes their turn, and just finds, someone to support and they deliver it. But like I said, about maybe 90% of them get delivered, but there is this few of them that don't, and it seems to be in North County. So I'm here and hoping to recruit more volunteers.

Yeah. So when you say there's a few that don't get delivered, you're saying there's the need has been expressed in the portal, but there's nobody to match them up with to take care of it. Yes. Oh, I see. Oh, boy.

Okay. Well, that's why we're doing these interviews. Right? Get the word out and get more people, aware of what amazing you work you guys do. So, and to find out more, your website, I 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.

That's it.

Yeah. Cake for kids, and that's the number 4. Cake for kids dot org forward slash chapters, with an s, forward slash San Diego. And so they can find out more about you, about, the San Diego chapter, and about how they can get trained. So the training, is it, is it, an in person training?

Is it a virtual?

It's a virtual.

Oh, nice. So it's super convenient.

Yeah. There've been amazingly so many volunteers that I think they hold it every week.

Oh, excellent.

Yeah. But that's across the country. So you actually would take orientation from others, across other areas.

And you and I were chatting just before, you know, we turned the microphones on here. And, you were saying to me that there actually, at this point, aren't that many chapters across the country. We're kind of fortunate that this is here in San Diego. How many if you were to guess, how many chapters are there nationwide these days?

I think there's a dozen. There's, some in the East Coast, handful in the Central, US. And then in California, I think we're, there's about 4 or 5 chapters in California.

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

Well, I'll share with you though. Interesting enough, we don't have a chapter in Orange County. So I get pinged every now and then in inquiry. How can they help? How can they help?

Which is amazing that it's the some of them are aware of what we do. But there's Los Angeles and there's San Diego, but there's no one in there's none in Orange County.

Interesting. Well, again, you know, one of the interesting things about podcasts is you really don't know where they go. Like, we have listeners randomly on the East Coast and, you know, internationally and all these, you know, so who knows? This could go somewhere and somebody could be listening right now in Orange County thinking, I wanna start that. So, you know

And that's actually true. Yeah. That would be great if someone would.

So there we go. Anywhere you're listening, if if you don't know, if there's a a chapter in your area, reach out to cake for kids.org and find out. And maybe maybe this is your calling to get one started. But North County residents, Carrie needs you. We we got we got needs that aren't being fulfilled from this, this, demographic here.

So and I had seen somewhere that, 440,000 children are in foster care nationwide. So it's a it's a lot. And, as you pointed out, there's this gap when they hit 18, and they, you know, air quotes, age out of the system that can be very challenging for them. And so lots of support needed there. I really appreciate you getting involved with our chamber and bringing this up and bringing our awareness to it because we gotta this is important.

Thank you. And, I just wanted to note that those of you that are businesses could actually help us out because I am looking for venues, to bring our community of volunteer bakers together, and then hold workshops with them to help up their skills, and also I think it's a great way and a win win to promote business, and give back to community. Also on the website, there's a QR code, to actually donate as well. So if you're not a baker but want to donate to our cause because our operations, it does take a lot of effort, and also I'd like to start bringing together in person, the volunteer bakers, so that we can build a strong community of volunteers to support, all of these youth.

Wonderful. Wonderful. So what what size of a venue do you imagine for bringing your bakers together to increase their skills and to, you know, that kind of are you talking about for 20 people, for a 100 people? What what are you looking for? We're gonna put this

out there. I would say for about, I'd say start at 25 and I have to see the interest.

Sure.

May it could grow and that we may need something bigger, but open to ideas for many of the businesses that, we could bring together some of these, bakers.

Perfect. Alright. There you have it. Businesses. If you could, if you have space for a a group gathering of 25 people, they would like your help.

And so, Carrie, can they get in touch with you personally at that website that we mentioned, cake for kids dot org slash chapter slash sandiego?

Yes. They can. My email address is there. It's simply a cari@cakeforkids.org.

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 us today and, you know, getting us all much better informed about this opportunity. I think it's wonderful what you're doing.

I'm so glad you're here and and in North County. So we're we're gonna fill this need.

Appreciate it.

Yeah. Great to have you.

Thanks for joining us today on our Carlsbad People, Purpose, and Impact podcast. If you got value out of our episode today, please hit the follow button on your favorite podcast app, and please tell a friend. Can't wait to see you next time on Carlsbad People, Purpose, and Impact.