All Things Cakey Club: Small Acts, Great Kindness

11 Mar 2021

The All Things Cakey Club is a charity organisation in the XJTLU School of Languages which has been running for many years. The club holds a charity cake sale three times a semester, usually coinciding with other events like the School Professional Development Symposia or festivals. It is currently run by Dara Sheahan, the Professional Development & Training Manager of the School.

However, as Dara emphasises, “The real stars of our club are the bakers, of whom there have been many, including Helen Beech, Kat Paterson, Sam Evans, Shuangxin Zhang, Alyson O’Shea, Natalie Meintjes, Yang Yang, and Kirsty Roberts.”

Since the coronavirus off-campus period ended, the club has arranged three charity cake sale events which have raised a total of 2070 RMB for Heart to Heart Shanghai to help Chinese children with congenital heart disease (CHD) whose parents are unable to afford the surgery.

A further 1300 RMB and 700 RMB were also donated to The Suzhou Animal Protection Association and The Suzhou Animal Lovers Group. These two groups help to save and rehome abandoned cats and dogs, providing them with shelter, medical care, kindness, time, and attention before finding them a forever home.

Dara recently received some good news from Heart to Heart Shanghai about the money raised in December’s event:
“The cash we raised in our December cake sale helped contribute towards a young child’s surgery, a 6-year-old boy from Tibet whom XJTLU School of Languages helped sponsor for heart surgery through donation,” He said

The contributions raised in January’s event will also be used to support another child’s surgery and fund these animal welfare groups. Lecturers delivered their kindness through small cakes and warm talks at the charity event.

With more fundraising events planned throughout this semester and into the future, Dara was keen to point out, “Even a small donation from buying a slice of cake can help transform the life of a child or an abandoned animal for the better.”

If you are interested in the All Things Cakey Club or Heart to Heart Shanghai projects, you are welcome to contact Xinyi.Liu@xjtlu.edu.cn for more information.

By Xinyi Liu

11 Mar 2021