"When we opened the box and saw the cookies, we could not believe our eyes," reveled Pninah Bat Natanel, Supervisor at YAI's Ames North residence in Manhattan. "The cookies were all so festive and all I could say was 'WOW!' All of the staff and residents here were so excited to share them together. Of course, they were gone in 5 minutes!" 

The cookies were among hundreds hand-decorated at Creative Edge Parties' first annual Frosting Fling where Carla Ruben, President of CEP, shared her special connection to the YAI Network.

Carla's son, Dionysios, who had a stroke before birth, attended YAI's Roosevelt Children's Center preschool in Manhattan for several years before he passed away at the age of four. During his time there, Carla was touched by the level of compassion and care given to her son by all of the teachers and therapists at Roosevelt. She organized the Frosting Fling as a way to thank the staff at YAI and to honor her late son.

Creative Edge welcomed all of their clients and corporate partners to the sugary event, hosted by 620 Loft Garden, where guests got into the holiday spirit by decorating hundreds of cookies with sprinkles, candy and of course, frosting! The cookie decorators put a "spin" on traditional techniques when they frosted the cookies using spin art. The result was a wide array of colorful and all one-of-a-kind cookies.

"We were so pleased that so many of our colleagues joined us to decorate cookies for individuals who receive services from YAI," said Carla.  To spread the holiday cheer, Carla and Creative Edge Parties arranged to have all of the cookies boxed and delivered to ten different YAI group homes, much to the delight of YAI staff and residents.

"It is very meaningful, especially around the holidays, that they would organize this event on behalf of YAI," added Pninah. "The staff were all really touched. Not only are the cookies incredibly beautiful, but they taste great and most importantly, the put a huge smile on the face of all of the residents here."