Women Who Give Back

Written by Bakersfield Magazine

If there’s one thing women are good at, it’s multi-tasking. So, by that logic, you might say women are good at a lot of things.

However, there are two things women in Bakersfield do exceptionally well...and at the same time, we might add. Women are wonderful business owners, that’s a given, but they also know the importance of giving back to the community. So many local women integrate charity into their business that we had no trouble finding them...we just followed their philanthropic trails.

“It’s not an option,” Stephanie Caughell says. “If someone needs something, and I can help, I’m going to do what I have to do to make that happen.”

Caughell is the owner of Gimme Some Sugar, an upscale cake bakery.

Though she started the business in 2005 with little more than determination and four walls, Caughell has already found ways to give back to the community the best way she knows how—through sweets!

“You’re giving someone joy,” she explains of charity. “It can be through whatever means you have, but it’s still a gift.”

Caughell has been part of charitable events, sponsoring when she can, but primarily by providing cakes or cupcakes.

One event in particular was the Boys and Girls Club’s annual fund-raiser: Artfest. Caughill donated red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. But she did so much more. She donated her time, her products, and herself.

And her small, loyal staff, including Geri Klonskly and Courtney Ghilarducci, is there to help her when she decides to give back.

“The Department of Human Services was wanting cupcakes for their Heart Gallery unveiling, but they found out they could only pay half of the cost,” Klonskly explains. “Stephanie delivered all the cupcakes, but wouldn’t accept any payment from them, not even half.”

“It just doesn’t occur to me that it’s a choice. People need and I can help,” Caughell elaborates.

So far, in the five years she has been in business, Caughell has provided treats for numerous organizations, including Gleaners’ functions, the Spotlight Foundation, and the Womens’ Business Conference.

But perhaps it’s the smaller gifts that make the biggest difference.

“A woman came in to order a cake for her son’s third birthday,” Caughell explains. “He had just undergone a heart transplant and his family hadn’t expected him to live this long.

So Caughell baked, frosted, and delivered the custom cake, but she wouldn’t take any form of payment from the family.

“Those are the types of moments I love to be a part of. It’s at those times when it’s most important to give.”

“It just needs to be done,” agrees Shawna Haddad Byers, the owner of Fishlips. While Byers helped create and establish the bar/venue in 2000, and has always been a charitable woman, it wasn’t until ‘07 that she bought the place with business parter Andrew Wilkins and truly began her philanthropic goals.

“It’s tough owning a business and coordinating a family, but you can still find the time to give back.”

For Byers, sometimes that simply means opening her doors.

“I’ll donate the space and let them do whatever they need to do,” she says of the numerous organizations that have held fund-raisers and benefits at the downtown staple, including the Ronald McDonald House (which was able to raise $10,000 in one night). “And if that means they need me to walk around selling raffle tickets for five bucks a piece, I’ll do it.”

Byers annually donates whatever she can to the Alliance Against Family Violence, but how she utilizes the venue at Fishlips is what’s most impressive.

The utterly tenacious Byers has been a party to over $100,000 being raised for the troops through organizations like Operation Interdependence which delivers civilian donations to military personnel overseas.

In June of 2007, famed guitarist Gary Hoey was set to play the Fishlips stage. He auctioned off an autographed guitar for $1,500 that night, with the proceeds going to charity. Since then, guitars carrying the signatures of Willie Nelson, Dick Dale, and Kenny Loggins (among many others) have been auctioned off on the Fishlips stage.

“Since that first show, we have auctioned off 15 guitars,” Byers elaborates. “And in guitar proceeds alone, we’ve raised $56,000.” That’s a lot of money for charity. “My goal for 2009 was to reach $10,000, and we raised $12,000.”

Still, Byers is always looking to do more.

“It’s the least I can do if I’m able to get a soldier the basics. It means so much to them to have the little things we take for granted. When I hear a ‘thank you’ from someone who’s got a cousin, a daughter, or a parent overseas, that’s all I need to keep going.”

And a simple ‘thank you’ seems to keep pushing Dayna Nichols, owner of Castle Print, Inc., to do more. When she bought the printing business in 1990, Nichols already knew what a giving community Bakersfield was.

Even though her youngest child (of seven!) was only weeks old when she stepped in to run Castle Print, Nichols stepped up to the plate for other organizations in our community and has always included charity as a part of her business plan.

“It all started with the Bakersfield City School District Education Foundation,” she muses. “I had children in four different schools...

I couldn’t be everywhere, but I was able to help give back at a new level, rather than as just a parent. I was able to learn what the schools needed and advocate for them in the community.”

That was only the beginning. As a printing company, you can bet Castle Print uses a lot of paper.

“Some local charities struggle to have the basics to run their operations, so anytime I have extra paper, I’ll donate it.” It might not seem like a big gift, but to nonprofits like Warmline (one of the organizations Nichols gives to), it can mean getting extra fliers out about events, or getting letters in front of the people who can help.

As a sponsor, supporter, and committee member of the Womens’ Business Conference, Nichols also became involved with the organization’s Rose Mentor Program a few years ago.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity to show young women you can do it all. You can teach girls, and the greater community, that you can work through your problems and be successful.”

It’s a way for this business woman to give of herself. She wants those girls to know that you can have a career, a family, and support the community at the same time. You just have to want to do it.

Nichols, whose days are so filled with volunteering on various committees, frequently catches up on work late at night. And because family is so important to her, Nichols is happy to be in charge of Kern County Family Week, a not-for-profit week of fun geared to helping families build positive relationships with each other.

“I was raised to give back. And with the help of my wonderful employees, including Mike and Cherie Miles, I can continue to do that. It’s so important to help out where and when you can because other people will see the effects of helping out your community; they’ll learn from it. You can influence others to give back as well, which will benefit Bakersfield.”

Article appeared in our 26-6 Issue - February 2010