Nine-year-old Kiera McKenna loves to give to others.
In September, McKenna decided she wanted to help community members in need, but how she would go about doing it, took quite a bit of thought, planning, support, and then hard work.
She came up with cupcakes.
The fifth-grade Walnut Park student started her fundraiser by making her own cupcake creations. She ended up making more than 400 cupcakes and raising almost $800 to buy 15 bags full of supplies for people experiencing homelessness in Smithers.
The bags were chock full of items such as blankets, socks, toques, Subway sandwich cards, hand warmers, flashlights, and many other useful items.
“I thought about it a lot before I came up with the cupcake idea,” McKenna said. “At first, I thought about hand sanitizer or lotion, but then I realized a lot of people like cupcakes. So I went with that idea, and when I started I got quite a bit of money and that’s when I decided I could make care packages.”
On Nov.6, McKenna, her mom Leona Becker, and Mayor Gladys Atrill, met and took the care packages to morning breakfast at the Salvation Army and delivered them to people who are experiencing homelessness.
McKenna and Atrill handed out the bags, and the room erupted with “thank you’s and blessings” to Kiera for all her efforts. Atrill and McKenna were then invited to sit at the one of tables to talk with residents and hear their stories.
“It made my heart feel good to know what I did helped people, and they were happy about it,” McKenna expressed excitedly.
McKenna sold her cupcakes, which she dubbed “Kiera’s Kupcakes” by donation on Facebook and the local buy and sell, and found generous sponsors to pay for the cupcake baking materials, decorations, containers, and labels.
McKenna’s idea was wholeheartedly supported by mom Leona Becker and dad Mike McKenna.
“I’m not much of a baker, so I thought, how are we going to do this,” Becker said. “But after I thought about it, it was such a good idea, and valuable lesson for Kiera, that I just went with it. It was a lot of patience and a lot of supervision but we are just so proud of Kiera for all the hard work that she put into it.”
With help from her parents, they came up with a list of items that would be helpful to people who are outdoors much of their time, or who are experiencing homelessness. Warm items were at the top of the list.
McKenna explained what she was doing to a couple of businesses in town, who then joined in to help her. Ed Olsen, Manager at Red Apple, wanted to support her efforts and gave McKenna discounts so she could purchase more items for each bag
The owner of Subway, Avi Rajan, gave free sandwich cards for McKenna to include in each bag.
“Everyone has really helped me out, from donating for my cupcakes to what I put in each bag, it’s been really neat,” said McKenna.
Salvation Army had offered her a volunteer spot any Saturday she would like to come and help with coffee and breakfasts, which she plans on doing.
“I’m thinking now about what I can do next year to help out,” McKenna enthusiastically said. “I think it will be garage sales over the summer.”
Whatever her plans, her parents are extremely proud and will encourage and support her every step, Becker said.
“We could not be more amazed at her efforts, and to have such support to have this all happen, we are incredibly proud of Kiera,” Becker said.
Atrill said she was impressed.
“(Kiera) is a very dedicated and giving young lady, to think of doing such a wonderful thing at her age,” Atrill said.
McKenna is looking forward to doing more.
“After today (Nov. 6), all I want to do is help more people where I live, to give more,” Mckenna said.
