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CBRE. Photo by Kathy Lovin
Real estate giant provides birthday cakes for homeless children.
By Kathy Lovin
Real estate powerhouse CBRE has a sweet program—called Birthday Cakes and More for Homeless Children—as part of its corporate responsibility plan.
Volunteers deliver birthday cakes to kids living in homeless shelters in cities across the U.S. where CBRE staff live and work.
The program is already active in several cities, but recently CBRE launched it in Los Angeles at The Salvation Army’s Zahn Memorial Center, the only emergency family shelter in downtown.
“Most of these children have been homeless since infancy, and birthdays just came and went,” said Zahn Emergency Shelter program director Ana Aguirre. “Many of these children have never had a birthday cake before.”
CBRE is serious about the program. Every cake is decorated with the child’s name on it, and arrives on the day of their birthday. According to Aguirre, CBRE also makes sure that the cakes do not contain ingredients that the children are allergic to. They even call before delivering the cake to make sure the cake is the child’s favorite flavor.
If more than one child have the same birthday at the shelter, then each will get their own cake.
“[The children] are very happy and surprised when they get their cake,” said Aguirre. “They feel like people actually care for them.”
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