A gift to a good cause is often rewarded with a token gift, such as a tote bag or coffee mug.
But how about a homemade cake?
That's what Marissa Joyce has been offering people who help a poor Haitian man who needs money for school tuition.
Think of it as a bake sale where people can get any kind of cake made to order.
The young man is Kalipso Clement. He is 28 now, but he was an orphan living on the streets when Marissa's father, Wes Morgan, met him more than 10 years ago.
Morgan, who died of cancer at age 54 in 2007, was well-known for making more than 30 missionary trips to Haiti to help fight poverty and homelessness and to spread Christianity. Even after being kidnapped by gunmen in 2005, Morgan kept going back.
Extending help
The cause remains dear to Morgan's family.
"The people have nothing," Joyce said. "They don't have food. They don't have money. They don't have jobs. People will beat you up or kill you over your shoes."
Joyce, the high-school minister at First Presbyterian Church, has not been back to Haiti since her father's death. But she has kept up with some of the people her father helped.
"My dad had a whole group of teenagers who were also street orphans -- their families had died or were not able support them. They called him Dad. He helped them find housing and helped pay for their education."
Years later, some of them still need help. When she spoke to Clement two weeks ago, he said he hadn't eaten in two days. He has a job delivering food for an orphanage, but Joyce said that he doesn't make a living wage.
Clement wants to enroll in mechanics school. The tuition is $800 for a two-year program.
That prompted Joyce to start raising money for him. She started a blog, http:/cakesforkalipso.wordpress.com, to help spread the word. Joyce started this Oct. 28, and she has already exceeded her goal. As of yesterday, she had $1,329.
Joyce said that the tuition money will be sent directly to the school. Some of the extra money probably will go into a bank account to provide small, regular stipends to help Clement with living expenses.
Joyce plans to use any excess money to help other young Haitians individually or donate money to an orphanage in the capital city Port-au-Prince, a cause that her mother, Barb Morgan, has taken up.
Joyce already has baked a lot of cakes and has a list of orders to fill -- one for every donation of $25 or more. "It's been a little baking factory in my kitchen," she said.
But she has been so encouraged by the donations that she has no immediate plans to stop. "I guess as long as people are ordering cakes, I will keep making them," she said.
Joyce doesn't claim to be an expert baker, but she does have a dozen or so tried-and-true recipes listed on the blog. "I've baked three birthday cakes. The lemonade cake and chocolate pound cake probably have been the most popular so far," she said.
She will also bake other goodies, such as chocolate-chip pecan pie and pumpkin bread. She will even ship them to out-of-town donors.
Joyce said that her fundraising project has been rewarding and fun.
"I love to bake, and this has brought back childhood memories for me. Some of my favorite times were when my mom would make a pound cake or Christmas cookies," she said.
"And I've been overwhelmed by how people have gotten on board with this. It's humbling."
People interested in donating money can contact Joyce at CakesforKalipso@hotmail.com.
mhastings@wsjournal.com
727-7394
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement