Weatherford Sweet Shop Has Mission To Feed Hungry Kids

The Community Food Bank's Food for Kids Program is a great cause that has inspired people across the state. Like a woman in Weatherford with a cancer diagnosis who opened a cupcake shop with an amazing mission.

An Oklahoma woman facing a cancer diagnosis made a remarkable decision. She started a new business - a cupcake shop - with only one mission: to help feed hungry Oklahoma children.

Her motto is celebrating the sweetness of life through grace and taste, and her courage is inspiring a whole community.

The Sweetness Factory is bustling with business: hungry folks itching to take a bite into a delicious dessert. But this little cupcake shop just off Main Street in Weatherford isn't your typical eatery.

Battling cancer for a second time, Deb Hanson knew she wanted to leave a legacy by helping others. That's about the time she heard a story that broke her heart.

"My health wasn't great, and I was told I needed to do something and this was my time to do it now," she said.

"I read an article in the newspaper about a little girl who asked for a half eaten banana from the teacher out of the trash can because she was hungry."

At that moment, Deb knew she wanted to turn her passion for baking into profit - but not for her.

"I have this crazy idea," she said. "I want to do this, but I don't want to get paid for it."

"At the end of the day, we cash out our register, we pay our bills and every dime goes forward," said Deb Hanson.

And right to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma's Food for Kids program.

"I want to feed as many children as possible," Hanson said. "That is my goal. I want no child to be hungry."

In the first nine months Sweetness Factory was open, the business funded 69 backpacks full of food for Custer County kids to take home on the weekends - for the entire school year.

A labor of love - and Deb doesn't take the credit.

"We can bake it, but unless they buy it, we can't support it," she said.

Every customer who walks in the doors - knows they're helping feed hungry Oklahoma kids. The community has gotten behind Deb's cause. At the end of the night - instead of throwing out the unsold cupcakes and cookies - local business owners buy out the product that's not sold to give to others.

They're called After Hours Angels.

"I just want people to realize there is a need," said Deb Hanson. "There is a way we can solve that need, and we're just excited to be a part of it."

Deb's goal is to feed all 220 children in the Food for Kids program in Custer County.

But there are thousands more Oklahoma children who need our support. Learn how you can help the Food for Kids program.