How 3 Lexington students turned a love of baking into a business with a heart

For as long as her parents can remember, 11-year-old Katelyn Reneau has loved to bake.

But it was when she began watching “Cupcake Wars” on Food Network that Katelyn developed a passion for baking cupcakes in particular.

“She got to the point where on weekends she was baking as many as four dozen cupcakes,” said Katelyn’s mom, Jennifer Reneau. “They were delicious – too delicious, actually. I told her she had to get them out of our house so we would quit eating them, so then she started delivering them up and down the street to our neighbors.”

Then, a few months ago, Katelyn became concerned about her Sunday school teacher, who has multiple sclerosis. Soon, she had an idea for how she could combine her love for baking with her desire to help her teacher.

“I just wanted to feel like there was something I could do to help her, because she is really dear to my heart and I just love her to death,” said Katelyn, a fifth-grader at Lexington’s Pleasant Hill Elementary School. “I thought, maybe I could sell cupcakes and give the money I made to help with her medical bills.”

Katelyn even told her dad she wanted to sell her iPad so she could have money to get her business idea off the ground.

“That’s when we realized she was serious about this,” said Katelyn’s dad, Chris Reneau.

At school, Katelyn mentioned the idea to best friend Mattie Lambrecht – another Pleasant Hill fifth-grader who also happened to love cooking family dinners, baking cupcakes and watching cooking competition shows on Food Network.

Lambrecht was immediately on board with the plan and, within days, the two developed the idea for Cupcakes for a Cure – a nonprofit business with the mission of selling cupcakes to raise money for various health causes in the area.

With the idea building steam, Katelyn and Mattie quickly realized they had the baking skills necessary for the business, but they knew they also needed someone solely dedicated to operating the business and managing its finances and marketing.

That’s when fellow fifth-grader Charlie Winston entered the picture.

“He does not bake,” Mattie said with a laugh. “Let’s just make that clear. Katelyn and I do all the baking.”

That’s OK with Charlie, who is more than comfortable as the business manager – a role for which he had unknowingly prepped for a while.

“He’s totally entrepreneurial-minded,” said Charlie’s mom, Bridget Winston. “He’s reading the Warren Buffet biography right now. He’s got all these different pages tagged with Post-It Notes so he can refer to his favorite parts.”

In addition to keeping track of the finances and setting up a bank account, Charlie created a website for the business (www.cupcakes4cures.com), an Instagram page (www.instagram.com/cupcakes4cures), business cards and an email account.

“I liked the cause and I liked what they were doing and I felt like I could really help grow the company,” said Charlie, who for several years has operated lemonade stands and pet-sat for neighbors and recently purchased nine shares of stock in Office Depot. “I’ve liked business since second grade, when I sold scented paper to my classmates for 25 cents each.”

Using a cupcake recipe book, Katelyn and Mattie have made more than three dozen cupcake flavors – including taste-tester favorites such as red velvet, Oreo and strawberry lemonade. The team then priced the cupcakes at $2 to $3 each (or $16 per dozen) – enough to make enough money to cover expenses for the made-from-scratch cupcakes and still raise funds for the cause at hand.

Last month, Cupcakes for a Cure held its first official fundraiser at Pleasant Hill Elementary’s Spring Fling event. Days before, Katelyn and Mattie baked more than 200 cupcakes – all from scratch and all of which were sold during the two-hour event.

The student-led business quickly caught the attention of Pleasant Hill Elementary School principal Margaret Mitchum, who said the team presented a full business proposal and plan to the school’s PTA before being approved to sell at the event.

“They are amazing,” Mitchum said. “To develop a business plan, to present it so professionally, and to do it all thinking more of helping others than themselves. It’s impressive to see that in kids their age.”

Thursday, Mattie and Katelyn once again baked more than 200 cupcakes – this time to sell at the Pleasant Hill Middle School Cougar Carnival, where local mental health initiatives were beneficiaries of the sale.

“We just want to support the most-needed cause each month,” Katelyn said. “Next month, it may be for breast cancer or the next for leukemia. We just want it to help those with the greatest needs.”

The team plans to set up sales this summer at other school and community events and flea markets, selecting a different cause to support each month. No matter the beneficiary or the location of the sale, one thing will most likely remain the same – at least if the cupcakes are sold at events where kids are present.

“I think we’ll be selling the birthday cake cupcake for sure,” Mattie said of the team’s bright blue-iced cupcake topped with rainbow sprinkles. “Those are the biggest hit and the first to go.”

This story was originally published May 31, 2016 at 12:48 PM.