An 11-year-old entrepreneur is turning her “top-secret” family recipe into a source of inspiration and hope, raising thousands of dollars for Texas flood relief efforts.
Kamryn Balfour told The Washington Post that she was heartbroken when she heard about the devastating floods in Central Texas that killed at least 135 people, including 27 campers and counselors at Camp Mystic — just 20 miles from her location on the night of the floods.
“I didn’t hear about it until I got picked up the next day when it was all sunny, and I just thought it was some pretty hard rain,” said Balfour, a camper at Kerrville’s Kickapoo Kamp over the Fourth of July weekend, when the floods occurred. “I felt very, very sad.”
Determined to turn her feelings of helplessness into action, Balfour decided she would relaunch her Kamryn’s Kravings baking business, which she initially developed for a kids’ entrepreneurial fair and credits with sparking her love for baking.
After Balfour began raising awareness about her business on social media and was featured by local station KHOU 11, orders for her chocolate chip cookies poured in. Each bag of cookies costs $5, but Balfour said many of her customers want to give more than that.
“Most people will give a $50 bill and only want two or three bags of cookies,” she told the Post.
Balfour’s cookies were in such high demand that family friend Gina Gutierrez, owner of Cakes by Gina, invited Balfour to use her industrial kitchen.
“I said, ‘Girl, come on over here, let me help you. Let’s multiply the recipe by four or five,” Gutierrez told the Post. “The young kids are our future and Kamryn’s an example of that. … I put my energy into helping her achieve her goals.”
By late July, Kamryn’s Kravings had raised more than $4,300 for flood relief efforts. That total is still growing as Balfour sells her baked goods at pop-up locations and continues to raise awareness about the Texas floods during her media appearances and on Instagram.
“Everybody can make a difference, even if they’re a little kid like me,” Balfour told the Post. She added that she is donating all proceeds to organizations supporting animal relief efforts, such as Kerrville Pets Alive and the Texas A&M Veterinary Emergency Team.
After the floods, hundreds of residents reported their pets missing, per NPR, and Balfour worried that their welfare could be overlooked during the challenging time.
“It’s so heartwarming to see the compassion, especially in these young children who could easily be distracted by other things,” Karen Guerriero, the board president of Kerrville Pets Alive, said to the Post. “We thank her from the bottom of our hearts.”
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