Icing Smiles

In college, Tracy Quisenberry participated in a danceathon to raise money for children and families affected by childhood cancer. “The children who came to encourage us captured my heart with their courage and positive attitude,” she says. Years later, Tracy acted on that inspiration and began baking cakes for seriously ill kids and their siblings. She delivered her first cake in 2008, and when she was leaving the hospital, an older couple was in tears at the front desk. They shared that someone made their granddaughter’s day with a dream cake and gave the whole family a sense of hope. It was Tracy’s cake and the start of something big.

Icing Smiles matches families with local bakers, and the nonprofit has more than thirteen thousand volunteers who have delivered more than thirty-one thousand cakes across the U.S. More than a cake, the gesture shows a family rocked by childhood illness that they’re not alone and provides a sense of normalcy and a reason to celebrate.

You can donate or sign up to bake dream cakes, fun cakes (typical sheet cakes) or cookies. The cookies are for surprise packages to raise a family’s spirits.