Lee Coogan feels blessed that her birthday was always celebrated when she was a kid. So was her son’s, and so are her grandkids’. But some people aren’t as fortunate to get a slice of cake in honor of the year ahead.
Starting 10 years ago, a national nonprofit, For Goodness Cakes, set out to change that. It matches home bakers with local organizations from 27 chapters around the country to provide celebratory sweets to at-risk youth. Coogan is the Central Coast chapter’s agency steward, connecting more than 200 bakers with children in need from Thousand Oaks to Paso Robles.
It takes a village
Local organizations and bakers interested in registering with For Goodness Cakes can visit forgoodnesscakes.org/centralcoast. The Central Coast branch can be found on Instagram @forgoodnesscakescentralcoast. Email centralcoastca@forgoodnesscakes.org with questions.
Recipients may be experiencing homelessness, living in foster care homes, going through cancer treatment, or struggling with other kinds of instability.
“To know that you can give back that way to people that haven’t been celebrated is what I enjoy the most,” Coogan said. “Because that could’ve been me. That could’ve been my son that never had a cake or a celebration.”
The Ventura-based volunteer recruits nonprofits, municipal departments, and other groups to hop on board with For Goodness Cakes, ensuring they’re ordering regularly for the kids who walk through their doors. In the past two months her bakers have made around 50 desserts.
Coogan added three agencies in the past six months, bringing the Central Coast up to 22 partners total. But there’s a lot more potential, Coogan said.
She hopes to fill a gap between Nipomo and Santa Barbara with more eager bakers and organizations that want to help their community. For Goodness Cakes is especially active in Atascadero, San Luis Obispo, Morro Bay, and Arroyo Grande, she mentioned.
The whole process is powered by volunteers who donate their ingredients and time in the kitchen as a way of giving back. Bakers (amateurs or pros) register online and must pass a short food safety training course. Then they wait for a request to pop up on their portal and decide to accept it or not.
Most commonly, the agency requests treats for a birthday or graduation ceremony. There’s no age limit, and some recipients can be in their 20s.
“We have youth that age out of the foster system, and so we found that they could be 19 or 20 and are still getting helped by some of these agencies,” Coogan said. “We’ve sent out birthday cakes to 25-year-olds that are in some of these organizations and learning how to evolve and move into society.”
Kids choose between cakes, cupcakes, and other baked goods as well as their preferences on flavor, color, and theme.
Popular flavors are chocolate, confetti, and tres leches, often topped with 3D decorations, swirling piping, and colorful lettering. The last dessert Coogan delivered was for a birthday girl who wanted a chocolate cake with pink frosting. Coogan added different shaped sprinkles on top for extra pizzazz.
“When you give them the ability to request what they would like, that even makes it more special,” she said.
Volunteers deliver their dessert to the agency within a specific time frame. Though they aren’t allowed to stick around to see the kids take a bite, the bakers usually have as much fun as those who eat their creations. Sometimes volunteers receive letters or photos from the agency describing the meaningful moments.
“I delivered a cake about three weeks ago here locally, and the woman wrote me back, … and said the child was so excited. They’d never had a birthday cake.”
While some volunteers bake professionally, For Goodness Cakes doesn’t turn anyone away based on their experience level.
“I have a new lady that signed up, and her first cake was in a 9-by-13 sheet pan. She just baked it, she frosted it, she put sprinkles, and said, ‘Happy Birthday,’” Coogan remembered. “The kids loved it because it’s personal. It’s special. Just for them.”
Even if bakers use a box mix, it’s better than no cake at all. Most of the children they serve eat meals during the day, but dessert is often left out of the equation.
In addition to coordinating the program on the Central Coast, Coogan is also a baker for any orders that don’t get picked up by others. It’s how she started volunteering with the nonprofit a few years ago, wanting to get better at the craft and give back to the community.
“What better way? And I don’t have to eat it then because I don’t need it,” she said with a laugh.
The retired software professional has been baking ever since she can remember. Coogan said her mother didn’t spend much time in the kitchen, so she bought a Betty Crocker cookbook for her kids to help out. With their mom’s supervision, Coogan and her brother were cooking and baking since they were old enough to read recipes.
Since joining For Goodness Cakes, the lifelong baker has perfected her cupcake game, too. The creative outlet is another part of the job that she looks forward to.
Spiderman’s face topped the very first cake she made for the nonprofit. Coogan bought special red and blue gel food coloring and strung webs across the frosting. The volunteer often peruses Pinterest for inspiration and searches Amazon for affordable decorations, exploring all the possibilities to make the children beam with excitement.
“The volunteers get as much joy out of it as the kids do,” Coogan said.
Reach Staff Writer Madison White at mwhite@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in March 19 – March 26, 2026.