Fundraising with frosting: Bakery fundraising for family who lost teenage son
MIDLAND, Mich. (WNEM) - Many in Midland are heartbroken after a teenager died by suicide, and one business where his brother works is trying to give back the best way it knows how.
The community in Midland had their lives turned upside down dealing with tragedy this week after a Midland teenager, Marshall St. Sauver, died by suicide.
Marshall’s brother Mace is an employee at The Gourmet Cupcake Shoppe in Midland and the business is doing what it can to bring community together one cupcake at a time.
It is doing what it does best: fundraising with frosting.
“Support from everything is just all we need to come together as a community to just... make good in this world.” said Kelley Gonzalez, the store manager.
Heartbroken after hearing the news about the loss of Mace’s brother, The Gourmet Cupcake Shoppe quickly put on its thinking caps to find a way to help the St. Sauver family.
“We love Mace here, he’s been here for about I’d say, like, three to four months. And he’s just like this smiling face of the store, he’s always up front in the shop with me and he makes every customer happy. And we wanted to give back something to the family,” Gonzalez said.
What better way to help than starting a fundraiser using Marshall’s favorite cupcake.
“His favorite was the Triple Chocolate Mousse. So, it’s a chocolate cupcake, it’s got chocolate frosting, mousse filling, chocolate ganache. It’s, like, an amazing cupcake for an amazing cause,” Gonzalez said.
From Wednesday, Sept. 20 until Saturday, Sept. 23, those tasty cupcakes will sport Marshall’s Dow High jersey number, #32, with a portion of the proceeds going back to his family.
“Each cupcake is $3, a dollar of each cupcake goes to Marshall’s family, goes directly to the family. We also have been doing a donation jar as well,” Gonzalez said.
The Gourmet Cupcake Shoppe had an initial goal of $400, but they went above and beyond that goal on its first day of fundraising because of a generous community.
“I had a gentlemen in here earlier today. [He] came in, he didn’t want any cupcakes, didn’t want any product, gave me a fifty dollar bill. He just said, ‘Can I donate this?’ I mean, somebody who doesn’t know the family at all and just.... the outreach in Midland and the support has been so humbling and tremendous,” Gonzalez said.
The Nom-Nom Ninja food truck in Midland is also fundraising for the St. Sauver family. A dollar from each burrito sale will be going back to them. However, Wednesday night is the last night it will be collecting donations.
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