Cake, Hope, and Love: Changing the World One Cupcake at a Time

Cake, Hope and Love is the first business featured as part of our 5 Dayton Organizations Doing it the Right Way Series.

“And now these three remain: cake, hope and love. But the greatest of these is cake.” Or at least that’s the general idea, according to Cake, Hope, and Love owners Shannon Teague and Connie McFarren. For these local ladies, philanthropy is a piece of cake; each month they donate 20% of the revenue from one of their fabulous cupcakes to a different charity. Past recipients include Autism Speaks, The Hope Foundation of Greater Dayton, The Hospice of Dayton, and Dominion Academy of Dayton.

Cake, Hope, and Love started with a birthday cake for Shannon’s youngest son in 2008. Friends and family were impressed with her confections and orders started pouring in.  Eventually, Shannon’s house was turned into a regular cake factory. Connie joined forces with Shannon in 2011, the Cake Ladies opened up the official Cake, Hope, and Love shop.

The cupcakes are varied and beloved by all who try them (as evidenced by their 4.5 star Yelp score). Flavors range from Pineapple Mango and Banana Bourbon to Snickerdoodle, S’mores, and, of course, the Buckeye cupcake. The menu changes daily, in case that selection isn’t enough for you. You can see which flavors they’re offering today on their blog; you can also sign up to be notified when your favorite cupcake is in the store.

In addition to a daily menu, Cake, Hope, and Love’s website has a Wall of Hope where they display the charities to whom they’ve donated and where other charities and non-profits can apply for donations. They also provide free products, hold auctions, and have monthly campaigns for local charities.

Connie has three sons and Shannon has two, so Cake, Hope, and Love focuses on local chapters of family charities, working to make the lives of children in Dayton a little sweeter. They’re making the lives of everyone else in Dayton a little sweeter, too, with their scrumptious creations. They live for family, philanthropy, and buttercream – and the world could use a little more of all of those.

You can check out Cake, Hope, and Love at their website: http://cakehopeandlove.com/.