"Do you accept food stamps for cake?"


What I wanted to say is "Honey if you are on food stamps then spend them on healthy food for your children like meat, potatoes, rice, fruit, and veggies....NOT fancy cakes."

What I did say is, "No, sorry, I work from home."

The call was from the children's hospital but they didn't tell me if they were a nurse or a parent or anything like that....

Oooooooh, I'm afraid you've opened a can of worms here, Kitagrl!!! I remember Leahs asking this exact same question when I first joined CC, and boy did the fur fly!!! It turned into a big argument about welfare, entitlement, etc.

Get ready for the fireworks!

Oh well. She called back and is going to pay money for a cake.

I guess I won't comment on people who can afford over $100 worth of cake but are on food stamps.

Let the fireworks fly.

Kita, If someone asks that question, you pretty much know money is an object. You can refer them to http://www.freecakesforkids.com/ We are a group of bakers all over the country that do childrens birthday cakes at no cost to the family. All of our cakes are custom, its our way of making the world a sweeter place, one child at a time. There are links on the site to each of our bakers!

If money is an object I go to the grocery store and buy one for eight bucks. As a matter of fact...growing up we weren't poor but we still had nothing but a homemade birthday cake every year...usually round iced with candies on it or something! Unless my grandma made us a fancier one which was only a few times.

Next time you get that question (and you probably will) direct her towards her local grocer that has a bakery. Food stamps can be used there to buy a cake.

Kitagirl, I do understand why you would think that, but...and yes there is a but...LOL! Who are any of us to say that anyone is or isn't allowed to have cake for a special occasion just because they are on food stamps or welfare? I am sure that person does in fact use their food stamps to purchase food for their family, she just wanted a special cake for a special occasion. I mean was she trying to ask for a huge wedding cake for hundreds of people or just a nice cake for a special occasion? Or did the conversation even get that far? It is very possible that is was a parent who might be on food stamps due to their child having a severe medical condition such as cancer, and all their money goes to pay for that child's care. Once you said no, there would have been no point in that person continuing with a reason for their asking, or offering justification as to why they made that request. Not admonishing you at all. That would have been my first thought too, but only for a split second before the shock factor wore off, and my brain logged back in...LOL!

I think Leah S's issue was that they were wanting to purchase a very expensive wedding cake with foodstamps...That is why she raised an eyebrow, just as any would for those who have champagne tastes but want to pay beer prices for them.

Even those who are living on welfare and foodstamps deserve to have a fancy cake for a special event...but it needs to be within reason too, I mean they are only given X amount of dollars each month to use, therefore if they elect to blow them all on a cake instead of their daily food needs they will be the ones to suffer, not us.
And those that want to say "oh yes we do suffer because we are paying for it with our tax dollars"...that argument doesn't really apply here. We are always going to have to pay taxes and even if the government totally shut down the welfare and foodstamp programs, the government would find some other thing to tax us for to continue to get that money, do you really think they are going not charge us what they are already getting?...not in a million years... You know the old say...there are only 2 certanties in life...Death and Taxes! Have a great day everyone! I think we all deserve it!

Kitagrl - I LOVE how you took that statement out of context to quote it...

No seriously, I am laughing about this whole thing! And like I said earlier to some degree I do agree with you, but I have the fortunate or rather misfortunate ability to see both sides of this argument.

But I did qualify the statement taken out of context with the following...

"BUT IT NEEDS TO BE WITHIN REASON TOO! I mean they are only given X amount of dollars each month to use, therefore if they elect to blow them all on a cake instead of their daily food needs they will be the ones to suffer, not us.

(see above posts for remainder of this statement for contextual purposes)

And I don't agree with your statement of those that have money have money because they are frugal...BS! "case in point...Paris Hilton!" Those that are tightwads are only tightwads about certain things, in other areas they are extravagant. It just depends on where they put their priorities and who is anyone to say where anyone may or may not place their priorities.

You are making assumptions about your client to the negative. Maybe she is a mom who has a terminally ill child who may NOT see their next birthday so they want a 3D Elmo cake for what MAY be that child's last birthday, but because of the expense of the medical care the family is on welfare and/or food stamps. And maybe she borrowed the money or others pitched in for it. Did you ever consider that...afterall you were the one who said the call came from the Children's hospital, And to be my own devil's advocate...YES, maybe she is someone who is exploiting the system, AND IF SO, SHAME ON HER, but to judge her as guilty of that until proven innocent is totally out of sync with your "American Way - Life, Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness" mantra. Now I am not saying this is right...BUT, if providing a $120 cake for her child makes her happy then guess what...by her constitutional rights, she triumphed in the pursuit of happiness department.

I like you Kitagrl, you are an amazing cake artist and given great information on CC, keep it coming! And it's cool for us to agree to disagree, Heck that's the American way!

I have no problem disagreeing.

I am pretty sure she was staff.... she was on conference call with another woman with me, and the only way you could do that as a patient would be to each have your own cell phone (which would come up on caller ID as a cell phone).

I'm a pretty compassionate person but I am dead set against the welfare system in most cases....I feel if the country could go back to "neighbor helping neighbor" it would be alot better than forcefully using tax dollars as help. I'd rather give a cake away (and I've done it before) to someone in need rather to know my cake AND my taxes were going to them. And yes I"ve also purchased groceries for those in need as well (lest you guys think I have a heart of stone haha...and by the way my income is absolutely not too much...we barely reach middle class.) I've had a sister in law on welfare (she's in jail now, or was) and believe me, you can work the system and do quite well on it. I grew up in a very nice home but my parents were also frugal in many other ways...I didn't get the Nike's and Oreos that the other kids got...but those things are not part of the bill of rights.

If you study the history of welfare and government bailouts, there's alot to learn.

But then...this is a cake forum, not a political one. LOL! On the other hand, when one's job takes one into working with many different types of people, I suppose many controversial political situations can come up in a day's work.

By the way...speaking of cake...I'm experimenting today and my house smells like cake-batter-burned-on-the-bottom-of-the-oven. Wonder if I could patent that one with Yankee Candle?

You guys are so funny. Love hearing a debat like this. I agree with both of you, go figure.

And Kitarl, please don't patent that for a Yankee candle!

I really think if it was a mom she would have mentioned that... I'm pretty sure these were nurses aides or something. I periodically get calls from nurses anyway if they have time to sit at their desks and look through cake websites. haha.

I wouldn't mention it.

That's another sad situation....healthcare professionals, teachers, and the military ....their salaries place them on the poverty level....too sad...those with so much responsibility....

I have a sister on foodstamps...believe me it isn' enough to get through the month. She is living with me right now until she can get up on her feet.
That being said, I would kick her butt if she came home with a 120 dollar cake when her foodstamps don't even make it through the month and I pay the difference for her and her kids. She gets 470 for her and her two kids. One is 17 years old and is a growing boy, who loves to eat. I would get upset if they came home with candybars and chips. 470 does not go far.
Her kids don't deserve a $120 cakes. If she wants a cake for a birthday she can make one and ice it up. It would mean more to her kids anyway.
I do think the welfare system is broke. My sister is honestly deserving. She has lupus and arthritis, and tons of other medical problems. However, my son just told me about these two kids that are getting social security because they are drug addicts. My son is in 7th grade. Crazy

I could be totally off-base, but it seems to me a plausible explanation would be that a hospital staff member might have been calling on behalf of a parent (who either doesn't speak English or was embarrassed to even be asking). If their child is critically or even terminally ill, they may not even be living at home right now. They may be living in temporary housing (e.g., motel, Ronald McDonald House if available), to be near their sick child. This would render making their own cake pretty much impossible.

It might be somebody trying to get something for nothing, who doesn't deserve it. It might not be. I don't think we have enough information.