Cupcake Fairies deliver pick-me-ups to deserving families

(PHOTO: Jordan McNichols (left) and Jan Campbell, the Cupcake Fairies. Photo by Barry Gray.)

Jordan McNichols and her mother, Jan Campbell, the force behind the magical Cupcake Fairies, have delivered hundreds of cupcakes to scores of houses over the past few months.

The idea for the Cupcake Fairies started with a Secret Santa group that originated from the Buy Nothing Stittsville Facebook group. At a reveal party in January to find out who your Secret Santa was, Campbell brought some cupcakes. Campbell is a pastry chef who runs a home-based businesses called Sweet Amelia Bake Shop. McNichols said the cupcakes were a hit at the party, and when people began asking how to get some, she said: “you never know, they might just show up on your doorstep.”

The Cupcake Fairies began their work on Family Day in February, when they went around delivering dozens of cupcakes to unsuspecting individuals and families. As recipients took to Facebook thanking the Cupcake Fairies and posting pictures of their beautiful baked goods, people began asking how they could get in on the fun.

“So we decided for Easter, to actually ask on Stittsville Moms, who knew of deserving moms or families that really had a rough week or needed a pick-me-up,” said McNichols.

Some of the recipients were nominated, and McNichols and Campbell also took note of other people in the community who had had a bad day, lost a job, or needed some cupcakes for other reasons.

McNichols said they baked on Thursday and Friday, decorated on Friday and Saturday, and delivered over 300 cupcakes on Sunday to 40 recipients in Stittsville.

Amanda Gordon received a visit from the Cupcake Fairies on Easter weekend. She didn’t know McNichols or Campbell personally, but had heard about the Cupcake Fairies on the Stittsville Moms group.

“I was out all day with my sons. And when I came home there was a box of cupcakes on my front step. It was very nice,” said Gordon. “On the box she’d written a note about the fact that they weren’t cherry chip doughnuts, but they made them especially for me. It was because a few weeks ago I’d made a big deal on Facebook about how Tim Hortons had discontinued their cherry chip Timbits and how that was a travesty. It was sweet that she personalized them for me.”

McNichols and Campbell moved to Stittsville last year, and they said that it is an amazing and generous community. McNichols said it is “the most helpful little suburb that I’ve ever lived in.”

The duo were recently nominated for the Roger Griffiths Memorial Citizen of the Year, an annual award for outstanding volunteers.

(Editor’s note: It was StittsvilleCentral.ca that went searching for the Cupcake Fairies after a reader suggested we do a story. McNichols and Campbell made it clear that they were not looking for recognition or have any intention of making this into a business. They said they enjoy baking and they enjoy giving back to the community.)

When will the Cupcake Fairies make their next appearance? McNichols said they are not the on-demand Cupcake Fairies—it is a more whimsical occurrence. She said the next deliveries might be “six months from now, might be six weeks from now, or it may be next week.” Although she did say that holidays are a good time because families are together and it is usually a busy time when people could use a pick-me-up.

One delivery stood out to Campbell, where the recipient was in tears.

“She had a rough week, we don’t know why she had a rough week. Someone nominated her and said she really needs a pick-me-up,” said Campbell. “She was over the top appreciative. She was just so beside herself. It’s those moments, it almost makes you cry, and you’ve got to kind of look away. I usually drive and Jordan is the one who goes up to the houses and delivers them. And every single person gives her a hug or a kiss, or their kids give her a hug, or the dog is jumping up on her and excited as well. It’s just so much fun. It’s more fun than anything.”

“We are so lucky to live in this community,” Campbell said. “We’ve met some awesome people through this. We’re just happy to give, and we’ll just keep giving.”