Cupcake company helps feed the hungry

This week through Aug. 28, Sprinkles is donating 100 percent of sales from their vanilla milk chocolate cupcakes, adorned with a gold star sugar decoration, to Hunger Busters, a charitable organization serving hungry people, for their Feed the Need - After School Program.

The Feed the Need - After School Program was established in 2007 and provides schoolchildren who participate in subsidized breakfast and lunch meal plans with a nutritious and sustaining third meal of the day. The program currently serves 2,200 meals per week.

In addition to serving the homeless, Hunger Busters serves members of the community struggling to make ends meet, including hungry, homebound senior citizens and families living in low-income housing.

The after-school programs where Hunger Busters serves offer structured, educational activities between 3 and 6 p.m. during the academic school year.

Brandon Barganski, executive director of Hunger Busters, said HB operates on a very small budget.

“We feed over 140,000 meals with a total budget of less than $400,000, so any donation is huge for us,” Barganski said. “To be specific, this donation will allow us to continue our efforts to feed the children in need in the DFW area, whereas we currently only feed less than 1 percent of those in need.”

Barganski believes it’s a scary thought that there is a hunger issue so close to home.

“This is here in our own backyard,” he said. “We get tons of requests from a corporation or company who wants to use us to raise funds or help with a benefit. Oftentimes, these come as requests, so they can get donated goods for a party and Hunger Busters would get a portion of the net proceeds.”

Barganski said they don’t accept these kinds of partnerships because it weakens their relationships with sponsors and donors.

“With this Sprinkles promotion, it is straight giving on their part,” Barganski said. “It is rare that a company would forgo a week’s worth of sales for anything to benefit a local organization. I applaud them for their efforts.”

Hunger Busters is thankful that people care about their community.

“We hope that with this promotion two distinct events occur," Barganski said. “One, we raise awareness for Sprinkles and Hunger Busters and two, we raise as much money as possible.”

Barganski said his main goal this week is to spread awareness about Hunger Busters.

“I think very few people are aware of the need for a program like this in our area,” Barganski said. “Eighty-seven percent is the startling statistic of how many kids participate in subsidized meal plans at school, and without Hunger Busters, many of the kids would go home each night hungry, decreasing their chances of doing well in school -- with the possibility of many other negative impacts on our community.”

Plano resident James Bruce has worked with the program for more than four years.

“I have been involved in all areas, including the ‘trenches,’” Bruce said. “I started out as just a volunteer and have since donated my time to help the organization with IT services.”

Bruce considers it a pleasure to make sandwiches, packing meals and delivering them to the students.

“It’s not every day that you get the chance to give back, so I look forward to the time I spend with Hunger Busters,” Bruce said. “I have seen this program grow from one school and just 250 meals a week to a staggering seven schools and 2,200 meals each week for the after-school program.”

Bruce anticipates many busy days coming soon due to the expansion of four more schools this fall.

“But with every move, we keep making progress to ending child hunger,” Bruce said. “The Sprinkles partnership is fantastic; it isn't just a company ‘donating 10 percent of proceeds to any given charity.’ They are making a wholehearted attempt to help end child hunger [by] donating 100 percent of sales of the HB gold star vanilla milk chocolate cupcake directly to Hunger Busters. I am excited to see the results and hope that more companies get on board.”

Hunger Busters plans to expand into Plano, among other DFW areas. Sprinkles is located at 4020 Villanova in Dallas.

Current Rating: 0 of 0 votes!

Rate File: Select Rating: * ** *** ****

 Plano Apartments
 Plano Attorneys
 Plano Auto Dealers
 Plano Auto Parts
 Plano Auto Repair
 Plano Beauty Salons
 Plano Car Rental
 Plano Dentists
 Plano Doctors
 Plano Flowers
 Plano Hotels
 Plano Insurance
 Plano Loans
 Plano Mortgages
 Plano Movers
 Plano Pizza
 Plano Realtors
 Plano Restaurants
 Plano Storage
 Plano Tax Preparation
 Plano Travel
 Featured
 More...