Fifth-grader gives bakery money to charities

FAYETTEVILLE — At 9, she asked for a KitchenAid mixer, like the ones chefs used on the Food Network.

At 10, she was making so many muffins, cookies and cupcakes mom Shanda Sloan said she had to give them away to neighbors or sell them. So last summer she started a curbside lemonade stand that has become Gable’s Bakery. She gives the sales money to causes important to her.

The summer business turned into a catering and ordering enterprise during the school year and has raised more than $3,500.

On May 17, the day before she turned 11, Gable Sloan stood among grownups handing out awards during the Fayetteville High School Senior Scholarship and Honors Program. She was there to present a $1,000 scholarship and a box of cupcakes to Julia Townsley, who graduated last week.

Gable was happy to give the money she made to recognize Townsley’s contributions to the community. Townsley started a holiday gift-wrapping enterprise when she was in elementary school to raise money for her school and other causes and is an active volunteer for Special Olympics.

Townsley, who is going to the University of Arkansas to study biomedical engineering, said Gable is genuine in her desire to make a difference in the community.

Gable received a standing ovation that night. Fayetteville High School Principal Chad Scott introduced each presenter and said Gable made an impression.

“It was a special moment that will stick with many senior students as well as audience members as a demonstration of the value of giving to your community,” Scott said.

Gable has received lots of praise from teachers, neighbors and community members, Shanda Sloan said. On Monday, Gable received a bronze medallion as a “Distinguished Finalist for Arkansas” in the 2016 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards at an assembly at McNair Middle School. She is finishing fifth grade.

“That’s really not what I do it for,” she said. “I really like giving to people. It makes me feel good.”

Gable is an easygoing child who sometimes has big ideas beyond her age, her mom said.

The money she raised has gone to Susan G. Komen Foundation, the American Heart Association, Arkansas Children’s Hospital and Malala’s Fund, an organization started by Malala Yousafzai and her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, to enable girls around the world to finish 12 years of school. Malala Yousafzai, who is from Pakistan, was 17 when she jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 with Indian activist Kailash Satyarthi for their efforts for all children to have a right to an education.

Gable’s interest in baking grew from watching cooking shows with her brother, 14-year-old Walden, and pretending to cook. She remembers filling pots with water, adding in spices and stirring it up into what she called potions.

Her passion for food became more serious last summer when she started filling the family pantry with cupcakes and cookies.

“I kept making the kitchen a mess,” Gable said. “I needed to do something with them.”