How might we use baked goods to educate the young people about mental health and encourage them to express their emotions?
Back by popular demand, Sad Muffins started its second year as a Project Good program with the objective of learning more about mental health. They hosted meetings weekly, alternating between baking new desserts together over zoom, and meeting with guest speakers to have conversations surrounding mental health. Guest speakers included Blythe Forman from Cakes by Blythe, Emmeli Mayo from Emmeli's Cakes, and Val from Depressed Cake Shop.
The Sad Muffin team’s final implementation included joining forces with the team leading Love of Learning (LOL, a supplemental after school tutoring/reading program that paired high school students and elementary students). They led an “Emotions and Emojis” cookie decorating activity. The Sad Muffins started by having a conversation about emotions with LOL participants, then decorated cookies with icing to resemble an emoji of the participants choosing that represented how they felt that day. The participants then presented their cookie to the group and explained why they chose the emoji they did.
Sad Muffins also implemented at the end of May by delivering baked goodies with positive notes and a list of community resources to neighbors in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month.
Fast Facts
Year(s): Fall 2020 - Spring 2021
Focus: Mental and emotional health
Recipients: Love of Learning’s elementary-aged participants
Community partner: Project Good’s Love of Learning
Number of recipients: 20
Number of One Stone members involved in planning: 15
Number of weeks of planning: 20
How many hours it took to prepare for implementation: 2
How many hours it took to implement: 2
