Man built a popular bakery from scratch in 20 years — then decided to give back to his homeless ‘neighbors’
A person with humble beginnings might decide to give back to their community after things start looking up for them. One man started his bakery back in 2005 after immigrating to America 5 years earlier. When things started working out for him and his family, he decided to give back to his community. The man, Manolo Betancur, felt that he would like to give free birthday cakes to the homeless people in the area, whom he referred to as his neighbors. It all started for a special reason, per TODAY.com.
Manolo moved from Colombia to Charlotte, North Carolina, 25 years ago. Things were not all that easy for him when he started out. "I arrived in America 25 years ago and I didn’t speak any English and I didn’t have any money in my pocket." He bought a bakery in 2005 and named it Manolo's Bakery. "We are the oldest immigrant Latino bakery in the Carolinas." They had become a much-loved bakery in the area. So 12 years ago, Manolo approached Raise You Up Ministries, an organization working for homeless people in the area. He asked them how they arranged cakes for homeless people's birthdays. When he realized that nobody had volunteered to give cakes, he decided to donate them from his bakery.
"To me, that was the coolest idea ever, because nobody thinks about their birthdays," Manolo remarked. From then on, the man started donating a cake for every homeless person's birthday, as he believed that it could make a huge difference in their day. "We don’t call them 'homeless.' They’re our neighbors," Manolo remarked. The man has been making vanilla sheet cakes with either caramel or peaches for homeless people's birthdays for the past 12 years now. Manolo has delivered 300 cakes to people in the area over the years. Making people's birthdays special in such a way has come with a great feeling for the baker as well.
"Somebody from the nonprofit approached me one day and said, Manolo, are you the cake guy?'" The man confirmed that he was indeed the "cake guy." The team member then went on to reveal that one person he delivered the cake to had gotten very emotional. The man cried and revealed that it was the first time he was going to have a cake on his birthday. The moment meant the world to Manolo. "That was the most important cake from this bakery." People appreciated the man's work in the comments section of the Facebook post by the outlet and said that he was doing really important work.
Valerie Chenier wrote, "If only the world had more of that…heart and of course, cake too." Shawn McGill MSW Consulting LLC commented, "Finally. Thank you! How about we work on housing next? One step towards humanity!" Jan Jacob Dewitts Harris remarked, "Absolutely the best! We should all be filled with such kindness and compassion." Keri Singer shared, "I love this act of kindness! Thank you for making every day a celebration!" Joyce Jolie expressed, "Love this idea! Everyone deserves to feel valued and celebrated on their special day. Manolo Betancur’s belief shows that sometimes it’s the simple things, like a birthday cake, that can make someone’s day unforgettable."