CAKES FOR A CAUSE - 2007

The second annual “Cakes for a Cause” filled the Miami Valley Centre Mall on April 26 and 27 with a dazzling array of colorful and delicious cakes, all for a great cause.

The Piqua Community Foundation sponsored the event - a community event and cake auction to benefit the Foundation’s Piqua Community Fund. This fund makes grants twice each year to charitable organizations that provide programs or projects that will help improve life for residents of Piqua and the surrounding area. More than $60,000 in grants will go back into the community from the Foundation’s grant making funds, and more than $300,000 in grants has been given since the first grants were made in 1995.

Eighty-nine cakes were displayed at the mall on Thursday, April 26. These creatively designed cakes were donated to the cause by local businesses, individuals, schools and not-for-profit organizations. Most cakes were accompanied by “incentives” – added by the donors – that significantly increased the values of the cakes. Incentives ranged from a “Girls Night Out” spa package to a 72” walnut propeller, from fresh flowers every month for a year to an afternoon of free yard work, and many included gift certificates to local merchants and businesses.

Silent bids were taken at the mall Thursday evening and Friday during the day. From noon Friday until 5:00 PM, the auction was broadcast live on W.P.T.W. radio. Each twenty-minute time slot included the auctioning of 6 cakes, with cakes and incentives going to the highest bidder at the end of the time slot. John Leese and Joe Neves of W.P.T.W. facilitated the radio broadcast which featured Foundation Board president Jim Brown III, vice-president John Brown, and Karen Kelly Brown, local store marketing representative for area McDonald’s.

Those visiting the mall could vote for their favorite cakes, with the top vote-getter earning “The People’s Choice” award. The 2007 People’s Choice award was given to Barclay’s Clothiers for their cake, which was a replica of a Vera Bradley handbag. The Theme Prize, best representation of Piqua’s Bicentennial, was awarded to Mullenbrock and Associates, whose cake was a chocolate depiction of May’s Opera House. Hartzell Propeller, Inc. won the Top Bid award for the second year in a row, resulting from the $800 bid on their cake which resembled a Hartzell Propeller and was accompanied by a display-ready walnut propeller. The Piqua Community Foundation mission includes encouraging charitable giving to benefit citizens of Piqua. The Foundation expresses sincere thanks to all those who gave to benefit the community through this new event – those who donated cakes, purchased cakes, volunteered their time and expertise to the event, and to those who attended or listened and got caught up in the “Cakes for a Cause” excitement. The event generated over $11,000 for the Piqua Community Fund. For those who missed seeing the cakes (or those who would like to see them again), color photographs of all the cakes and the names of all cake donors and bakers can be seen elsewhere on this website under “Cakes for a Cause 2007 Auction Photo Gallery”.	Craig Mullenbrock of Mullenbrock and Associates accepts the Theme Prize won by their Mays Opera House cake from chairperson, Stacy Scott.
	Jim Brown of Hartzell Propeller accepts the High Bid trophy from chairperson, Stacy Scott.
	Barclay’s Men’s and Women’s Clothiers won the People’s Choice Award for their Vera Bradley bag cake, baked by Dobo’s Delights.

"Providing your opportunity to enrich our community"