I donate cakes to Hospice. They have a whole group of bakers. He usually calls me for special requests since I'm the only one of us that can decorate. I absolutely love doing this. I went to the volunteers banquet this year and they showed pictures of the birthday parties they give to the patients and I saw one of my cakes. The patient died a couple of weeks later. It gives me so much joy to know how my little cake really made a difference.

Old age homes or retirement homes are wonderful places to donate cakes to. You could do the monthly birthday celebration there.

i was thinking along the same lines as you. somewhere that i can donate cakes where they would truly appreciate it and i would gain more experience.

we have the baptist children's homes here in oklahoma. they are a bunch of foster homes that have house parents. i am thinking of contacting them to do birthday cakes for the kids there. i'm sure the resources are minimal for them.

Our local elementary school has a fall festival every year. They are always looking for cakes or desserts to use for their cake walk. All schools do fundraising for one thing or another and are looking for donations. One idea would be to call the principals of the local schools and let them know that you are willing to donate a cake for any kind of fundraising that they are doing. They can keep your name on file and call you when something comes up. Another idea is when the hospital does their red cross blood drives. They could give the cake out to the blood donators.

I am a second grade teacher with a a cake decorating habit. I often take in my practice work for my coworkers. They can't get enough - they are always begging for more cupcakes. A school teacher's lounge is always a nice place to donate to. After a long day with kids - there's nothing better than a chocolate cupcake!

All of the ideas offered in this thread are good.
One problem I ran into when trying to donate to the women's shelter was that they didn't want to allow "so much sugar" as it supposidly caused the kids to 'climb the walls/miss behave'.

Well I can understand that, but that shouldn't be a reason to restrict children from having a darn birthday cake. (not saying that to you just thinking out loud). I wouldn't even want to think of what other things they wouldn't allow the children to have and do.

On a nicer note, lol I got my samples of fondarific fondant. Pretty good, but none of my family members like them, they said the taste is good but they just can't stant the texture, it either is just something they aren't used to or a few of them said it hurts their teeth. (Not big candy eaters so I don't think they like it... but yet they can chow down a cake loaded with powdered sugar... Go figure) lol

My oldest sister told me that she would help me contact some of these places to find one that would let me donate. She also mentioned that she'd help me start my own cake business whenever I am ready (of course not for a while lol) But she's into "legal stuff" so she'd be the best partner to work with. lol Hope you guys had a good weekend!

First, I love the idea of donating to crisis pregnancy centers, what a neat idea. Also, robinscakes, I love your enthusiasm, and feel the same way.

I wanted to add that if you're a supporter of the arts, many community theatres do opening night parties, and sometimes serve food at special fundraising events and they'd probably appreciate something like that also. I bring our staff and volunteers leftover tiers from my families birthday cakes for rehearsal time.

Almost all community theatres are non profits and can give a tax receipt if you ask for one also.