Julia Conroy, the founding baker of Give A Cake Bakery, learned baking from her grandmother Gertrude Conroy, known as Amma. Her grandmother’s specialties were apple and pumpkin pies, a feature of Give a Cake bakery as well. During the pandemic, when Julia was looking for a useful way to use her enforced isolation, she turned to baking to relieve stress and do something positive for others.
She worked with her father to set up her home-based bakery, learning how to use social media platforms and build a website. He introduced her to lawyers who helped her set up the business. And she poured over federal food regulations, learning about the law and food allergies, as well as proper baking and packaging regulations. In deciding on a name for her new business she explained that, “ I tested out several with a logo for each one. One of the names I came up with was “Baking For Good,” but it, like the other names, missed the warm feeling that I feel comes with “Give A Cake Bakery.” Give A Cake felt more inviting to the community and had a somewhat of a built-in call to action in the word “give.”
At the time, four years ago, the fledgeling entrepreneur was in the sixth grade at Oak Hill Middle School.
Today, Julia is a sophomore at Newton South High School, and her business includes fifteen volunteers, many also students at Newton South. They bake breads, pies, cookies, and loaf cakes at home for a number of community and philanthropic groups including the Newton Community Freedge, the Women’s Lunch Place in Boston, and the Somerville Homeless Coalition. Recently, the Give a Cake bakers brought unadorned sugar cookies to a Families First event at the Brighton Community Center and supplied parents and children with sprinkles and other materials so they could decorate their cookies.
“I sometimes meet the people I’m baking for and it’s so rewarding,” she said, remembering a call from a customer who expressed “what joy she felt picking up the cookies” from the Freedge. Julia noted that the group baked sixty-two items in January, and at least 100 items in February for delivery to the Freedge. As members of the Newton South High School student body, Give a Cake volunteers have joined forces with the Newton South Fight Against Hunger Club.
In addition to Julia Conroy as CEO of Give a Cake, the “team” includes Sofia Kekalainen, who is both a photographer and, according to Julia “a great speaker in telling the Give a Cake story to others.” Sofia, started baking at six with her grandmother and father – who is the family chef and baker. She and her brother would often have “cook offs.” She joined Give a Cake two years ago and now bakes on two Sundays a month. “I used to bake for fun, but this is on a different level, a different aspect, Sofia said.
Jane Tremaglio has been a Give A Cake baker for about a year. Julia recruited her after Jane baked cookies for her field hockey team. An enthusiastic cookie baker, Jane finds it relaxing and will continue baking for the rest of her life, although not professionally. She is considering studying psychology and neuroscience. Of her involvement in Give a Cake, Jane said “It’s all Julia. She’s amazing!” Looking ahead to the bakery’s future, Julia Conroy explained, “I’ll be off to college in two years so I need younger volunteers to be interested.”
Recently, Newtonville Books hosted a conversation with Hank Phillippi Ryan, a Newton resident, and Joseph Finder, to introduce Ms. Ryan’s new mystery. Jean Stehle, librarian at the Oak Hill Middle School, organized the event, and when Ms. Ryan asked for a local bakery to supply the refreshments, Ms. Stehle recommended Give a Cake. Ms. Stehle said she kept in touch with Julia Conroy and her volunteers, most of whom were students at Oak Hill. “I saw the inspiring and professional work she was sharing on social media, [and] I wanted to create an authentic opportunity to highlight the nonprofit and attract more patrons and donors,” she said.
Give a Cake Bakery is a 501c3 nonprofit and generally depends on donations to fund its baking. In addition, the team bakes cookies to sell at local community events, like Newton Highlands Village Day.
