Noah is the embodiment of what One World stands for and it is such a pleasure for One World to award him with the certificate of recognition for an Outstanding Service Learning Project through Noah’s Community Cakes. Noah also recieved a cash price to go towards his mission to bake 1,000 cakes by his 18th birthday.
The following statement was written by Noah, Student and One World member at Half Hollow Hills:
“I have been a member of One World Youth Club since I was in 7th grade, going to meetings and participating in events in middle school. As I entered high school, I joined One World again and I was happy the club was there, so I always had a way to give back to my community. I became very busy with sports and my classes required a lot more work. At the end of my freshman year, I wished I had spent more time giving back to my community. Finding time was the hardest part of all of this. I hope to be an entrepreneur when I grow up so my mind always goes to – if there is a problem, how can I find a solution. I had watched my mom bake over the years and I thought to myself, what if I bake cakes to give to someone who needs it and while the cakes bake, I can use that time to study and do my homework. I reached out to the local soup kitchen and they loved the idea of me baking cakes for them. I knew if I was having a difficult time fitting in community service, other kids must be too, so I used this as an opportunity to have a leadership position and I started to create events for other kids to bake and study too.
I used the birthday money I had received as gifts to buy ingredients. I knew I wanted to be able to give as many cakes as possible so I found the best prices for ingredients. I was able to get the cost of each cake down to just about $2.00. I started to bake cakes over the summer and as the school year started, I realized my idea was really working. I would turn on my oven every Sunday morning when I woke up, mix the ingredients, put the cakes in to bake and then do my homework. As Thanksgiving approached, I thought it would be so great to give every guest their own cake for the holidays instead of just a piece. I knew I needed a bit more help to make this happen. Having been a member of One World for so long, I thought it was a natural fit to ask the club to help me with my venture. Mrs. D’Onofrio was so generous to support me and had the whole group hang my flyers around school. Kids and teachers brought in ingredients, even going out of their way to donate other ingredients besides cake box mixes so I didn’t have to buy eggs and oil on my own. It was great to see the support and generosity from the One World club and our school. I not only donated 100 cakes for Thanksgiving, but I donated 125 cakes for Christmas.
As of today, (March 11, 2024) I have baked and donated 303 cakes. My goal is to donate 1,000 cakes by my 18th birthday but the more cakes I bake and see how happy people are to get them, the more cakes I want to bake so maybe I will surpass that goal. I also created a website hoping other kids will see that if I am able to do this, they can find a way to give back too. I have been so happy to see the reaction my program has generated, and I am appreciative that One World’s support is being recognized as the post keeps getting viewed and reshared.
Follow and Support Noah on his Website & Instagram!
