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10/01/2019 06:05 PMThe nine ugly cakes that made an appearance at Old Saybrook’s Community Day on Sept. 21 were laugh-out-loud ugly. But their true function at the annual family festival was not just to elicit laughter, and not even simply to raise funds, but to increase awareness for Old Saybrook Social Services’ Family of the Month Program.
Paul Liberty, a member of the First Church of Christ in Old Saybrook Social Action Team, devoted some thought to innovative ways to help his community. The recipe for an ugly cake contest had its origins in a conference he attended.
“I heard a speaker [who addressed] escaping adultism...putting fun back in your life and not growing up,” Liberty said.
The speaker told a story about “a mom who, during a busy holiday season, needed some help baking the holiday cookies,” he continued, explaining that every year, at the family’s holiday party, all the cookies were eaten and there were no leftovers for them afterward.
“So she asked her husband and her son to help her out,” Liberty said. “They hatched a plan.”
They made ugly cookies.
But the plan didn’t work. The guests loved the cookies and ate them all.
Ugly cookies went viral and evolved into ugly cakes.
“The ugly cake contest thing has popped up in a lot of places,” Liberty said.
“I got to thinking about it in a way to raise awareness and funds for this Family of the Month program,” he said.
The First Church of Christ, whose Social Action Team was started by parishioner Natalie DeVan upon the request of Reverend Ed Cornel and officially recognized by the church’s leadership board in March, highlights the Family of the Month program in its monthly newsletter, asking parishioners to make donations to Old Saybrook Youth & Family Services (YFS) on behalf of the family in need.
“They are always there-but-for-the grace-of-God-go-I stories,” said Liberty. “The August story was a single mom who was undergoing treatment for cancer, had to quit her job, and received an electric...shutoff notice.
“I was thinking—a lot of people in town don’t know that this program exists,” he said. “YFS hooks these people up with needed services. Sometimes what they need is a short-term cash infusion.”
Stories like that are unexpectedly common, according to YFS Director Heather McNeil.
“I think that the perception of need for Old Saybrook is low on most people’s radars,” McNeil said. “People don’t necessarily understand that there’s a growing population here of people in need. Inviting [residents] to the table with those cakes on it is a very non-threatening way to have conversations about it.”
It’s important, McNeil said, to “really understand that these people that are identified as Families of the Month are just like you and I. They could be your neighbor, your teacher, or your mail carrier.”
Ugly cakes and helping people came together in Liberty’s mind with the intention to “[h]ave some fun, raise some money, but more important, raise awareness,” he said.
He and some other Social Action Team members solicited donations from local organizations and food establishments and received nine hilariously ugly cakes. Visitors to the table paid $1 to place one vote for ugliest cake, with 10 votes for $5. The votes also served as raffles, so 10 winners brought home ugly—but undoubtedly delicious—cakes. And Shayna B’s by the Sea and TJ’s Restaurant & Pizza donated gift certificates, which were raffled off, as well.
The cakes entered did not disappoint. Bob the Blob Fish, contributed by Cuckoo’s Nest, was pronounced the winner. Parthenon Diner offered a Halloween-esque face with green, bulging eyes, greenish fingers, and vermicelli-like hair.
“The Pursuit of Pastry did a kitty litter box cake,” said Liberty. “That was a little different, as well.”
Additional cakes were made by Old Saybrook High School (OSHS) Boys Culinary, OSHS Girls Culinary, First Church (sponsored by Big Y), Stop & Shop, Tamzin Maine on behalf of the Old Saybrook Land Trust, and Elizabeth Mariol.
The vote “was pretty close all the way around,” Liberty said. “I think [Cuckoo’s Nest] did the best job of getting friends and family to show up to vote. We encouraged the folks who submitted to get people there...Cuckoo’s Nest did a really good job of that.”
The event raised $224.
“We hope to make it an annual event at Community Day,” said Liberty, adding that his group learned from the first go-round and plans to make changes to it, such as getting the word out via social media.
“I realize we’re not changing the world in one weekend,” he said. “But hopefully over time we’ll see folks understand what the program is and reach out to help families in need.”