Bentlee Martinez started baking cupcakes to save for a vacation, but now bakes to help the homeless after her family encountered a number of homeless individuals on the way home from a fishing trip in Idaho where they live.
The 9-year-old from Boise has a cupcake stand outside her house and has raised more than $2,000 over the summer to buy items for care packages that she distributes to those in need, Today reported.
Martinez makes all the cupcakes from scratch and built and painted her own stand with wood her mother Stephanie Ford got for her, Today reported.
With a little help from Ford, Martinez usually makes about four dozen cupcakes every day. Most days, she sells out, KTVB reported.
After her family bought burgers and other items for homeless they saw on the side of the road one day, Martinez was convinced that she needed to help even more homeless people and saw her cupcake sales as a way to accomplish that goal, Today reported.
The family even helped an elderly homeless couple with injuries find a house to live in, and gave them supplies like warm blankets and socks, Today reported.
Some of the unique cupcake flavors she sells include cherry limeade, mint madness, and s’mores. According to Today, she finds ideas on Pinterest and makes up unique names and toppings for her creations to help them sell better.
Martinez’s efforts have even come to the attention of the Boise mayor, who now wants to meet her.
“She’s such a selfless little girl,” her mother told Today. “If anyone could give just a little bit of what that girl gives, our world would be a better place.”
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