A photo posted to Reddit of two cakes, side by side, with the comment, “The cake that was ordered and the cake that arrived,” went viral this week.
But as many things on Reddit, there’s more to this story than first meets the eye.
The photos depict cakes of Elsa from “Frozen” made by two different cake makers, and many commenters called one of the cakes “horrific.” News outlets then attributed both to McGreevy Cakes, claiming the family that ordered the cake based on the photo above to the right was shocked by what arrived.
Except Shawna McGreevy, who did make the cake on the right, had nothing to do with the one on the left. And the cake on the right was not ordered by any family. In fact, the cake many commenters made fun of was donated as a part of charity, called Icing Smiles, which delivers cakes to critically sick children through 7,500 cake maker volunteers across the world.
“That cake was done for us roughly a year ago for a child in California. She had been perfectly happy with the cake until this happened,” Icing Smiles founder and executive director Tracy Quisenberry told ABC News. “The child is so upset her cake is being made fun of. It’s impacted her as well and we’re dealing with a sick child that now is down in spirits and we’re coming back in and re-serving her with another cake to try and boost her spirits again.”
The person who made the cake is Lisa Randolph Gant, owner of private bakery Let’s Make a Cake. Gant has made five cakes for Icing Smiles over the years.
“Yes I know the cake looks a HOT MESS ... BUT here is the back story ... I had just lost my grandmother I had been with my Mom all day comforting her, I came back to work on the cake I HAD 2 hours to get it done and delivered,” Gant posted on Facebook. “Yes I’ve seen all the really mean comments, some even posted by some of my so called cake friends that know it’s my cake. At the end of the day, I DIDN’T let that sick baby down. I gave it all I had to give, so make fun [of] me all you … want if that is what you need to do to feel good about yourself.”
Gant has not responded to ABC News’ request for comment, but her post goes onto explain that not only did she not have enough time to dedicate to the cake, but it was also rained on. Her post has many positive responses and her Facebook page has been flooded with support.
According to Shawna McGreevy, founder of McGreevy Cakes and a popular cake maker, who made the cake on the right, her cake took her nearly 20 hours to make – 18 more than Gant was able to give.
“It’s a difficult thing to pull off especially if you’ve never done it before,” McGreevy told ABC News. “Somebody tried and at the end of the day that’s what I think it’s all about: trying.”
The silver lining to this story is the attention it’s brought to Icing Smiles. According to Quisenberry, there have been more than 200 offers for donations since last night, when a typical week sees about 30 offers.
“Hopefully, the result of the attention we’re getting is we’ll be able to serve more kids,” she said.