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Cake Kit Project

A community food-drive project

Every family deserves a cake to celebrate.

Cake Kit Project packs simple, shelf-stable kits — mix, soda, frosting, and a pan — so families can bake a cake together during the holidays and all year round.

Find or support a drive Start a Drive
A parent and child frosting a homemade sheet cake in an aluminum pan

Our mission

Small box. Big moment.

Food drives often cover the essentials — and that matters. But a birthday, a holiday, or a good report card deserves something sweet too. A cake kit gives a family everything needed to bake and share a cake at home, with no eggs or oil required.

The project is founder-led and volunteer-run. It began with Mary Jo Landry, and the bilingual baking card from the 2025 kits is still the one in every box. The first planned launch is Cocoa Beach, Florida — and the full blueprint is free, so anyone, anywhere, can run a drive in their own community.

Kit contents on a white table: a cake mix box, a soda can, a frosting tub, an aluminum pan with lid, and an instruction sheet

What's in a kit

Five simple things

  • 1Boxed cake mixOne dry, shelf-stable boxed cake mix.
  • 2Can of sodaOne can of Sprite or Coke — it replaces the eggs and oil.
  • 3Tub of frostingOne ready-to-spread tub of frosting.
  • 4Aluminum baking panOne disposable aluminum pan — ideally with a fitting lid.
  • 5Printed directionsOne instruction card printed in English and Spanish.
See the kit and baking directions

Three ways in

Where would you like to start?

Communities

Find or support a drive

See each community's coordinator, recipient, wishlist, and giving status. Gifts stay with the community you choose.

See communities

Copy the blueprint

Start a Drive

The free six-step blueprint, kit calculator with estimated budget, and packing checklist.

Get the blueprint

New community

Add Your Community

An organizer setup guide and a printable planning worksheet to get your town ready.

Open the setup guide

The blueprint, in brief

Coordinate first. Then bake joy.

  1. 1

    Coordinate first

    Before buying or collecting anything, talk with a local food pantry, church, or community partner and get clear answers.

  2. 2

    Set up giving carefully

    Only open a giving option once it's real and transparent. Keep each community's gifts separate.

  3. 3

    Gather supplies

    Use the kit calculator — one of each item per kit — and its estimated budget for planning.

  4. 4

    Check every item

    Food safety and transparency come first.

  5. 5

    Assemble the kits

    Pack one of each item together, with the direction card on top — at the recipient site or wherever you agreed.

  6. 6

    Deliver by arrangement

    Drop off only as agreed with your recipient organization.

Read the full blueprint
Volunteers' hands packing cake kit supplies at a long table

Communities

Where drives are being planned

Each community has its own coordinator, recipient, wishlist, and donation destination. Nothing is being collected yet.

Add your community

Know someone who'd love this?

Share the project with a friend, neighbor, pantry, or congregation.