Regional woman bakes 500 Christmas cakes as part of mission to help children overseas

10 hours agoThu 25 Dec 2025 at 12:34am

Woman wearing colouful top and apron stands smiling in her kitchen with cakes wrapped in colourful paper on bench next to her — South Australian woman Faye Taylor starts baking every year in September. (ABC Riverland: Shannon Pearce)

Hordes of people flock to car parks to meet Faye Taylor, who waits ready to hand out one of 500 of her handmade Christmas cakes.

A wide variety of different people slip in and out of their vehicles excited to see Faye, who stands beside a car boot overfilled with eskies and bags.

They contain cakes which have lovingly been hand wrapped with personalised notes attached.

Woman stands at the back of her silver ute with the boot up and packs many brown paper bags into the back. — Hundreds of cakes are delivered across Faye's Riverland community. (ABC Riverland: Shannon Pearce)

Many share brief but animated conversations with Faye, who lives in South Australia's Riverland region.

One who has turned up to collect a parcel is Tanya McDonald, who doubled her order this year.

"They just taste bloody lovely," she said.

"This lady is a real treasure; there's not many around like her anymore."

While the time and ingredients are donated by Faye, the funds raised by selling the cakes help children in need overseas.

Cakes wrapped in colourful wrapping sit alongside a sign that says 'proceeds go directly to Africa and Indonesia missonry work' — All funds raised from the sale of cakes will continue to go to helping children overseas. (ABC Riverland: Shannon Pearce)

It is this need that drives her to carry out the monumental baking task, which started in September.

Not just a cake

Faye said she fitted baking around her day job and, although it was difficult at times, the cakes helped her out of some trying times.

woman stands behind a table wrapping a parcel with red, green and gold ribbon — Every cake is carefully wrapped in festive colours, ready to be opened by families in the region and further afield. (ABC Riverland: Shannon Pearce)

"At my lowest of lows this year, I thought, 'No, I'm not going do it'. [But then I thought], 'Yes, I'm going push on,' " she said.

"It helps you get out of that mental fog because those people that I saw [overseas], have got nothing, literally nothing.

"But they're so happy, they're happier than the people here."

Baking for hope

Faye said her calling to bake was inspired by a missionary trip to Africa 28 years ago.

"I came back from Africa wanting to sell my house, because I just had so much and I felt embarrassed how much I had, after seeing what little they have," she said.

"I definitely think of them all the time. My heart, my heart is with them all the time."

Woman stands at the back of a large group of children, who are all dressed in different coloured shirts and smiling. — Faye's memories of her Missionary trip to Africa have stayed with her. (Supplied: Faye Taylor)

Funds raised from selling the cakes go to Hope Village Orphanage in Indonesia as well as a ministry at Naivasha in Kenya.

Faye said she visited the children at the Hope Village Orphanage in 2024 and was able to see where her donations go.

She said funds were directed to support children's needs, including meals, clothing, medical support, housing expenses and education.

Woman sits on a bench and paints a young girl's nails. Other children sit on the benches while doing craft activities. — Faye was proud to see first-hand where her donations have been used while on a trip in 2024. (Supplied: Faye Taylor )

The helping hands

Glenda Cass is just one of the many people who buy Faye's cakes.

She started buying at Christmas several years ago and it wasn't long before she offered to lend a hand.

"I've developed her ingredient labels according to SA Health regulations and I print them off every year for her as a donation," she said.

Christmas cakes wrapped in cellophane with red, gold and green curled ribbon. — From baking to wrapping, Faye has remained committed to the cake effort for almost 20 years. (ABC Riverland: Shannon Pearce)

Glenda said her devotion to continuing to support Faye was driven by knowing the money was going to people who needed it and because it sparked memories of her grandmother's traditional Christmas cakes.

She said it was what Christmas was all about for people of faith.

green, pink and green decorated biscuits are laid out on a table. There's hundreds in shapes of trees and circles. — Faye's talents and passion for baking also includes making festive biscuits. (Supplied: Faye Taylor)

"It's part of her faith, it's part of what she believes," Glenda said.

"Her and her husband would give anybody in the community the shirt off their back to help them out and not question it.

"That to me is what a true Christian is about, but it's also what a community person is about."

Ministry of cake

As the cakes are enjoyed at dinner tables in the Riverland and further afield today, Faye said she was pleased her job was done for another year.

Woman in an apron takes an image of herself smiling in her kitchen. — With the cakes out for another year, Faye can take a break from the kitchen. (Supplied: Faye Taylor )

But she said it would not be long before she was pulling the apron back on.

"When God tells me to stop, I'll stop, but right now I'm open to keep going,"

she said.

"Every year by the time they are all cleared out, I think, 'Oh, now I've got my fridges back, now I've got my eskies back', but then it's sort of, 'Oh, it's time to start again.'"