While celebrating its second birthday, Hope Gas did its part to make sure West Virginia residents facing food insecurity can blow out the candles on a birthday cake of their own.
Hope Gas volunteers prepared 50 birthday cake kits for delivery to food banks across the company’s 38-county territory. The kits included a cake pan, cake mix, frosting, a can of soda, candles, custom napkins, sprinkles and a plushie of Blue, the Hope Gas mascot. Soda cake recipes require no eggs or additional ingredients.
Though Hope Natural Gas Company was founded in 1898, it has done business under several different names since the early 21st century. It became Hope Gas again when it was purchased by Ullico in September 2022, and the utility has celebrated its “birthday” each year since.
The first batch of birthday cake kits was donated to Mustard Seed, a food pantry in Clarksburg, West Virginia. The special delivery coincided with one of the company’s “Keeping Hope Alive” volunteer days, so along with the cake kit donation, 12 Hope Gas employees worked the entire day assisting Mustard Seed staff with cleaning, organizing, painting, weeding and repairing a security fence.
According to Christine Mitchell, communications and community relations manager for Hope Gas, the idea for the birthday cake kit donation popped up naturally during discussions for the second birthday celebration.
“One of our focus areas for our charitable giving program includes basic human needs,” Mitchell told American Gas. “However, during some of our visits to food pantries, we noticed that there were no ‘extras’ that included items such as cake mixes, frosting, candles—all the birthday items most of us take for granted.”
Mitchell reports the employees who helped pack the kits are already eager to do it again. “It feels good to help those less fortunate than ourselves,” she said. —Eric Johnson