On Wednesday, Oct. 12, the American Marketing Association (AMA) at SUNY New Paltz partnered with the American Red Cross to raise money for the local victims of Hurricane Irene. The event was held at Moxie Cupcake, a newly established business in New Paltz.
Mike Dispenzieri, the AMA’S vice president of community service, hoped that joining with a big name like the Red Cross would make for a successful turnout to help the local friends and families affected by the storm this past August.
“Everyone in the area knows someone that has received substantial damage to their homes and personal belongings because of the storm. I am sure if you ask anyone on campus they can name off a few people that got blind-sided by the storm,” Dispenzieri said.
His grandmother, whose basement was flooded with nearly 3 feet of water, was one of these individuals who have incurred substantial damages to their homes and property. The AMA took action in helping these families who lost their farms, homes or need to pay to fix the destruction.
AMA Chapter President Fiona Lee believed Moxie Cupcake was the perfect place for the fundraising event.
“I believe as a representative of the American Marketing Association, we not only want to raise money for a good cause, we wanted to promote new businesses around the area,” Lee said. “This is why we decided to contact Moxie.”
The Moxie Cupcake event took place from 2 to 7 p.m. and attendees were encouraged to purchase cupcakes in an effort to raise money for the local victims of the hurricane. Approximately 50 percent of all sales for the event went towards the American Red Cross to assist families in the area. They also urged customers to enter a raffle to win a batch of cupcakes from the bakery. All proceeds from the raffle went to the Red Cross. A local three-piece band provided the background music.
Lee said the event was especially targeted to the younger generation, since cupcakes are part of our newly developed pop-culture.
“Since this event involves cupcakes, we believe that this will attract many parents (especially since it is very close to the Middle School) and hungry college students,” Lee said. “In our current pop-culture, cooking shows have become extremely popular. Cute confectioneries are opening across the nation and the cupcake craze really attracts college students. So why not?”
Dispenzieri agreed about the appeal of cupcakes.
“Moxie cupcake has a very personable environment that really welcomes the whole community not only to their delectables but to share in the warm memories that go with them,” Dispenzieri said. “The owner is very community driven, and always willing to help out with local causes.”
According to Moxie Cupcake’s Facebook page, they raised a total of $530.