Icing Smiles’ 2022 Year in Review

A look back on 2022 and some of the things that made us smile

As the year comes to a close and we reflect back on what we’ve accomplished as a community, the smiles on the faces over at Icing Smiles headquarters just keep growing bigger. 

That just might be the theme of our year: growth. We grew the number of smiles we delivered. We grew our network of sponsors and supporters. We grew the number of Sugar Angels around the country who help us create smiles. 

“I am so proud of what we were able to accomplish this year,” says Icing Smiles Founder Tracy Quisenberry. “We’re getting back to delivering as many cakes as we were before the pandemic. We implemented a new scheduling software that has us ready for continued growth. Fundraisers like Sugar Angel Beth Townsend showed us what individuals are capable of achieving.”

Ultimately, we’ve continued to grow the impact Icing Smiles is making in the lives of families impacted by the critical illness of a child. Here’s a look back on 2022 and some of the top moments that made us smile.

We Delivered Over 2,180 Cakes and 868 Cookies

Until there’s a cure, we’re going to keep delivering cakes and cookies to families impacted by the critical illness of a child. As of Dec.16, 2022, we’ve delivered 2,182 cakes and 868 dozen cookies. Each delivery affirmed that these baked goods are way more than a sweet treat. They’re a temporary escape from worry and a positive memory during a difficult time.

Here are some of our favorite stories from 2022: Kenny finished chemo and received a celebratory Cars-themed dream cake from Sugar Angel Candice Simeoni. Mikey celebrated his 18th birthday with help from Sugar Angel Chavella Wellington. Alan celebrated his seventh birthday, as well as being almost a year treatment-free after being diagnosed three years ago with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, with a ​​two-tiered Minecraft cake created by Sugar Angel April Perez. Jaidyn celebrated her high school graduation with a two-tier marble cake, decorated in her school colors, made by Sugar Angel Jamie Bybee. Ava also celebrated her high school graduation — and 18th birthday — with a cake made by ​​Sugar Angel Sasha. Liam and his family celebrated his 10th birthday — the first party he has had since he was 6 years old — with an epic Spiderman cake from Sugar Angel Lisa Velesbir. Charlie celebrated the end of leukemia treatment. Ollie and his family celebrated the one-year anniversary of his second open-heart surgery. Eliana’s celebrated her ninth birthday with a beautifully decorated cake from ​​​​Sugar Angel Cynthia C.

​​“She was so excited to have a custom cake made for her birthday,” says ​​​​Eliana’s mom, Teresa. “All of our guests thought it was so beautiful, and that made Eliana feel so special! Thank you for providing these beautiful cakes for our little ones. They go through so much, and these cakes really are a ray of light on their journeys.”

570 New Bakers Joined Our Sugar Angel Roster

We couldn’t do what we do without the generous network of volunteer bakers across the country who sign up to spend countless hours and up to hundreds of dollars creating a custom cake for a stranger. This year, 570 generous and kind-hearted individuals signed up to Sugar Angels, bringing our list of total active Sugar Angel count to 13,133!

We loved hearing from some of our Sugar Angels about what it takes to be a Sugar Angel and what being Sugar Angel means to them. 

“It means so much to be able to take a small burden off the family and put a smile on their faces,” says Michele Quinn Fulford from Atlantic City, New Jersey. “I believe all of us who have a passion for baking do it with love and that is what these families need. Any way to bring a bit of joy and help in some way doing what I love is a blessing.”

Our Supporters Continue to Help Us Bake a Difference

We were blown away by the support we received from donors in 2022. From Violet’s Bake Sale and Sugarthon to Best Cake Ever and Giving Tuesday, our donors and Smile Squad members aren’t just providing cake or cookies — they are spreading joy by creating positive memories and a sense of normalcy for the families we serve!

Sugar Angels held over 35 Violet’s Bake Sales, raising over $9,000 to help more critically ill children. Our eighth annual Best Cake Ever competition drew 130 entrants and raised $8,132. On Giving Tuesday, we set a goal to cover the cost of delivering one week of cakes — that’s 55 cakes, as it costs Icing Smiles $40 to deliver each cake — and we met it, raising $2,255! 

Our second annual Sugarthon, featuring Rachael Teufel, Anne Heap, and Joshua John Russell, raised $7,900. “This was our first year partnering with Craftsy, and they took our vision and made it a reality,” says Development Coordinator Chelsea Boog, who notes this event wouldn’t have been possible without our other sponsors: OceanQuip, Domino Sugar, Fat Daddios, King Arthur Flour, Roxy & Rich, and Chef Rubber. “We really grew the potential of what we were able to accomplish with Craftsy producing the show and featuring top cake and sugar artists.” 

4 Companies Stepped Up to Help Us Deliver More Smiles

We love partnering with companies that get our mission and want to help us make smiles possible. In 2022, four new companies signed on to be sponsors. 

DecoPac, a leading supplier of cake decorations to professional cake decorators and bakeries around the world, joined us to sponsor our Icing Smiles Pin Program. ​​A leader in edible technology innovation, Icing Images donated a desktop edible printer system to our Best Cake Ever contest. Whipped-topping manufacturer Hanan Products is helping us bake a difference by spreading the word about Icing Smiles and recruiting more volunteers, especially in the tri-state area. Hanan customers who sign up to become a Sugar Angel receive a swag bag from both Icing Smiles and Hanan Products. FLAVORx, which allows kids to choose the taste of their medicine at the pharmacy, is not only monetarily supporting Icing Smiles but is also educating pharmacy staff on the Icing Smiles mission and providing them with resources to share with families of critically ill children.

Our Volunteers Carried the Icing Smiles Vision Across the Country

A vision carrier is someone who tells our story and makes an impact on another individual — and we have so many vision carriers!

Luke Heizer of Luke’s Custom Cakes in Hamilton, Ohio, talked about his work as a Sugar Angel in an interview with the Miami Student newspaper. Monica Castillo-Gonzalez of Momo’s Cakes shared information about Icing Smiles in an interview with The Monroe News. Susan Richmond of Athol, Idaho; Tara Eldridge of Idaho Falls; and ​​Veronica Pavlosky of Missoula, Montana, talked about their memorable experiences as Sugar Angels in a feature in the Idaho Senior Independent. 

“It is incredible through word of mouth who this organization can reach,” Tracy says. “You never know who could be our next cake recipient, sponsor, or donor.”

Cake Decorator Beth Townsend Raised $25K for Icing Smiles

For the past few years, Sugar Angel Beth Townsend has designed a massive cake sculpture and set up a table at the South Florida Fair — all to raise awareness for Icing Smiles. “West Palm Beach is a very big area,” Beth says. “We have a lot of children’s hospitals. But ​​not a lot of families know about Icing Smiles.”

This year, the fair wasn’t able to donate space for Beth. Instead, it was going to cost thousands of dollars for a booth. “That defeats the whole purpose,” Beth says. “If I had that kind of cash, I’d just give that directly to Icing Smiles.”

So that’s what Beth did: She set a goal to raise $2,000 for Icing Smiles — and ended up raising $25,000 in just three weeks. She presented the check to Icing Smiles’ Assistant Director Karen Griffiths at the American Cake Awards in Miami.

“We were in an audience full of very high-caliber cake people who could easily do this themselves and who have way more followers than I do with more street cred in the cake world,” Beth says. “I hope that it sets in motion other artists doing their own campaigns to raise more for Icing Smiles.”

We Streamlined Operations to Serve More Families

In 2022, we were able to transfer all cake and baker records into our new customer relationship management (CRM) system. The new database platform allows for easier and faster communication and more accurate data and minimizes the time spent on each request. So far, it has reduced the average application processing time from 30 minutes to 10 minutes.

“It’s amazing how much less admin is needed to process baker and cake applications to completion,” says Technology Coordinator Cindy Johnson. “Most other admins have been assigned to other volunteer areas, which alleviates workload.”

​​The efficiency gained through accurate and transparent data and automated emails frees up operations volunteers to focus on serving both families and bakers better, rather than just simply trying to keep the process moving forward one cake and email at a time. 

“We hope to grow our number of families served substantially in 2023,” says Assistant Director Karen Griffiths. “We are also in the process of changing all of the templates to have additional, yet more concise, communication with our families and Sugar Angels. We hope this will eliminate some of the current concerns we are receiving through our feedback forms.”

Join Our Mailing List

As we look forward to 2023, we’re focused on building awareness of Icing Smiles among families impacted by the critical illness of a child. “We’re going to harness the momentum we built in 2022 and continue spreading the Icing Smiles vision to those deserving kids and families who don’t yet know about us,” Tracy says. 

If you want to help carry the Icing Smiles vision in 2023, sign up to receive periodic updates from the team. You can choose to receive the newsletters we send out every other month or to be notified when a new blog posts. We think you’ll enjoy reading about the smiles we help to create. These stories inspire us. They motivate us. And they are the reasons we are here.

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