Cornell University students from six campus organizations volunteered at the 10th Annual Ithaca Cupcake Baking Contest, an event to raise awareness about mental health, and collected donations in The Sophie Fund’s related Cupcake Button fundraising campaign.

Cornell volunteers, reporting for duty!

More than 25 volunteers came from Alpha Phi Omega–Gamma Chapter, Cornell Circle K, Pre-Professional Association Toward Careers in Health (PATCH), Realizing Integration, Support, and Education for Underserved Populations at Cornell (RISEUP), Hotel Graduate Student Organization, and Voices of Equity.

Students arrived for the October 18 event at the Bernie Milton Pavilion in the Commons as the autumn dawn was breaking. They hauled tables and chairs to set up the contest, registered contestants, guarded the entries, participated in the judging, created awards certificates, connected with community mental health partners, and broke down the event space afterwards.

Contestant registration team

Students spent the previous two weeks collecting donations for Ithaca Welcomes Refugees, which provides comprehensive support services for refugees and other immigrants arriving in Tompkins County. The Sophie Fund hosts the cupcake contest every October, and organizes the “Cupcake Button” fundraising campaign to support Ithaca nonprofits aiding mental health in the community.

RISEUP’s Harmony Guan and friends supporting Ithaca Welcomes Refugees

Speaking at the Awards Ceremony, Harmony Guan, RISEUP’s mental health committee lead, said her group partnered with The Sophie Fund because of the intersection between refugees and mental health.

“We’re an organization at Cornell that supports refugees and underserved populations,” she said. “Refugees face many struggles, stressors of coming from another country to a new country, culture shock.”

The sweet side of volunteering: judging the cupcake contest

Volunteering with The Sophie Fund