Talent for cupcakes

A "spotted cow" cupcake from 3GC.

Chocolate cupcake filled with white chocolate cream cheese buttercream

and topped with spotted (chocolate chip) buttercream!

There was a bake sale at work today to raise money for a charity.  I spent $6 and got a lot of sugary treats!  Everything I bought (and tried so far) is delicious.  This got me thinking; does food taste better when it's for a good cause? 

My favorite cupcake place is 3 Girls Cupcakes.  Simonie, the owner and chief "cupcake engineer"  is a constant reminder to do my part to make the world a little sweeter.  I am a loyal 3GC fan because the cupcakes are amazing and because a weekly dose of Simonie does the soul good.  I could write a whole blog post about the endless times I have received exceptional customer service at her cupcake van and I could give you a personal review of each of her cupcake flavors (read my Yelp! review of 3GC).  What I really love about Simonie is that she is constantly giving back.

On the front page of the 3GC website you will see that 10% of sales go to local Children's Charities.  This is a big deal!  How many of us actually give 10% of our income to anything so great?  (Pat on the back for those of you that actually do)  In addition to that Simonie is constantly donating cupcakes to local organizations as her way of supporting their cause.  She has found something she is good at and is doing more with it than just making money for herself.  We would all love to be making a living doing something that brings us joy, and to share in that joy with so many others is like the icing on the cake!

I recently read a post on Facebook that Simonie passes out cupcakes to the homeless when stopped at red lights around town.  These people are not going to track her down to buy another cupcake from her in the future.  She is not gaining future clients by doing this.  There is no money to be made from giving your cupcakes (your source of income) to someone who can not repay you.  She is using her own resources to give back to the city.   

So, do her cupcakes taste better because with each purchase I am, in a way, donating to local children's charities?  Thankfully her cupcake are superb and she has never given me a chance to find out if I like them any less without supporting a good cause and I hope she never will. 

Simonie is using her talent as a "cupcake engineer" to bring a little more sweetness to the world.   You don't have to spend money to create a sweet moment for someone else.  What is something you are good at and how can you put that talent to use brightening someone else's day? 

I am not an expert "cupcake engineer", but I'm pretty darn good at finding moments that make other people shine.  Tomorrow I will put my talent to use and give someone else a reason to feel good about themselves.