Lemonade stands, weeding gardens, shoveling snow, mowing and more.
For years kids have always been looking to make a little extra cash to be able to make a purchase and have something they can call their own.
For one little girl, 8-year-old Berlyn Rhodes, making cake pops is how she plans to reach her goal to raise money to travel to Washington D.C. to compete for a national title in pageantry.
According to Jen Rhodes, her daughters pageantry career began 11 short months ago but has been a successful one.
“My daughter is fundraising for her trip to DC in July. She’s representing Arkansas on a national level. She’s only been in pageants for 11 months, but she’s the reigning Petite Miss Sharp County, Petite Yound Miss North Central Arkansas and the Arkansas Universal Beauty,” Rhodes said. “So she’s going to compete in Washington DC. She’s going to help me make cake pops to raise money.”
Berlyn’s first pageant was in July of 2022 when she competed in the Be The Sunshine pageant.
“She started pageants because for as long as I can remember, she’s LOVED dress up. She comes home from school and will change into a dress and heels and play,” Rhodes said. “Her dad and I wanted her to understand that ‘beauty’ isn’t determined by someone else, which is why we didn’t put her in pageants as a baby. It needed to be her choice.”
After being given the opportunity to compete, Berlyn was like a duck to water.
“That day she hopped up on stage and it was magic. She wasn’t nervous at all and just shined. She won Petite Miss Sharp County at the fair last year, then went on to win Young Miss North Central Arkansas after that,” Rhodes said. “She won Arkansas Universal Beauty with Our Little Miss in October. She went to Houston in January and finished top 15. She’ll represent Arkansas on the World stage again in Washington D.C. in July.”
As of June 6, Berlyn is only $300 away from her goal and with the support of her family and community. She will reach it.
The cake pops sell for $4 each and there are a variety of options to choose from.
To order one of Berlyn’s Cake Pops, you can email her mother at [email protected] or, contact her through Facebook Messenger on her Facebook page.
Lauren is a an award-winning journalist who decided after 10 years of newspaper experience to venture out. Hallmark Times was born.
