Congrats to Jorge, the winner of the 2011 Cupcake Eating Contest! He managed to scarf down 10 cupcakes in under three minutes, then went back for seconds!

Cupcakefest 2011 was an amazing success!! The Bloomfield Animal Shelter was such a pleasure to work with. Thanks to everyone who came out to support this amazing group of shelter volunteers!!

CUPCAKEFEST TOTALS:
-Attendees: over 2000
-Total # of prizes raffled off: 58
-Value of pet supply donations: $2000
-Total cash earned for the shelter (including raffles): $4000

These numbers are AMAZING! Thanks to you, the shelter received over $6000 worth of cash & other donations. Special thanks to Don’t Be Cruel, who donated over $400 (100% of their profits) to the Bloomfield Animal Shelter!

Sweet Avenue Bake Shop and Planet Verge present Cupcakefest 2011 to benefit the Bloomfield Animal Shelter in Bloomfield, NJ.
We are now accepting applications for vendors at Cupcakefest. This event is being heavily promoted and we expect hundreds of attendees during the day.

•The fee is $50 per vendor. A percentage of the proceeds will benefit the shelter.
•All vendors must provide their own table and chairs. We also highly recommend a canopy due to hot weather and possible rain (as this is a rain or shine event).
•We are primarily looking for crafters, clothing companies, pet food/toy companies, vegan businesses, etc.; however, any interested, fun, or unique vendors will be considered.
•All vendors must include a summary of the types of items (with examples) that they plan to sell.
•All vendors must be approved by the event organizers, Sweet Avenue Bake Shop and Planet Verge.
•Vendors are expected to be present for the majority of the event, which runs from 1pm – 7pm. Late arrivals and early departures are acceptable, within reason.

Vendors will keep 100% of their profits from sales. All vendors will also receive the following mentions and logo placement on the following websites and Facebook pages:
-Sweet Avenue Bake Shop
-Planet Verge
-Cupcakefest.com

In addition, we are also accepting prizes towards our raffle. Please let us know if you would like to contribute a prize. Donors of acceptable raffle prizes will also receive verbal mentions during the raffle drawing portion of the event. Larger sponsorship opportunities also available.

Please email info@sweetavenuebakeshop.com for more information.

Media Contact:
Audio Crush PR
www.AudioCrushPr.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Bloomfield, N.J./Rutherford, N.J. —April 7, 2011—Vegan cupcakery Sweet Avenue Bake Shop and Planet Verge, the lifestyle blog and Internet TV show that reports on “what’s hot” and “what’s important,” have announced Bloomfield’s John A. Bukowski Shelter for Animals as the beneficiary for the annual Cupcakefest. A daylong celebration of music and cupcakes, Cupcakefest will take place June 18 at Rutherford’s Lincoln Park Bandshell (176 Park Avenue). The festivities include performances from several bands (TBA), a cupcake eating contest, raffles and the opportunity to meet animals available for adoption.

“As vegan small business owners and animal rights advocates, we feel strongly about our obligation to give a voice to those who have none,” says Danielle Vance, owner of Sweet Avenue Bakeshop and founder of Cupcakefest. “We started Cupcakefest to be able to use our influence in the community to help some of the countless animals in shelters across New Jersey.”

Cupcakefest 2011 is free to attend. Pet supply donations are encouraged. Now four years in, Cupcakefest has raised thousands of dollars in cash and supplies for local shelters.

John A. Bukowski Shelter for Animals was chosen this year due to the challenges the shelter has faced this past year, including lack of funding and attempts to buy out the property: the shelter has been in the crosshairs of township officials for years as Glendale Cemetery, right next to the shelter, has wanted the land the shelter sits on for expansion. If the shelter is closed, all homeless or stray animals will likely be brought to Associated Humane in Newark, which is already overwhelmed. Animals can be put down in as little as seven days by state law, and it happens frequently at AHS.

“Planet Verge is honored every year to join Sweet Avenue in the planning of Cupcakefest,” states Joelle Caputa, president, Planet Verge. “Our staff is dedicated to raising awareness for important causes and feel it’s necessary for people to know that there are millions of amazing animals sitting in shelters right now, waiting to love you,” she said. This year’s Cupcakefest is extra special to her, as John A. Bukowski is her hometown shelter. “The shelter volunteers go above and beyond. When I adopted my dog a few years ago, my other dogs didn’t adjust well to the situation and the shelter’s trainer worked with us for months,” Joelle says. “Now, we couldn’t be happier!”

Cupcakefest 2011 will be filmed for Planet Verge TV. Watch Cupcakefest 2010 festivities.

SUBMISSION INFO FOR BANDS:
To submit for Cupcakefest 2011, e-mail planetverge@gmail.com with “Cupcakefest 2011 submission” and your band name in the subject line. Include a brief description of your music, career highlights, and links to streaming music and social networking pages. Deadline for submissions is Monday, April 18th.

ABOUT SWEET AVENUE BAKE SHOP
Sweet Avenue Bake Shop is a gourmet vegan cupcakery located in Rutherford, NJ. All cupcakes are 100% dairy and egg-free, cholesterol-free, and delicious. Sweet Avenue is dedicated to life, liberty and the pursuit of cupcakes! Visit SweetAvenueBakeShop.com, Facebook.com/sweetave, and Twitter.com/sweet_avenue.

ABOUT PLANET VERGE
Planet Verge is an all-female run media network. In 2001, Planet Verge launched as a music ‘zine in New Jersey. Today, Planet Verge takes on a farther-reaching form as a music and indie lifestyle Web site and Internet TV show (Planet Verge TV). Planet Verge reports on “what’s hot” and “what’s important” on the scene from our latest music and beauty obsessions to causes close to our hearts. Visit PlanetVerge.com, Facebook.com/PlanetVerge, and Twitter.com/PlanetVerge.

ABOUT JOHN A. BUKOWSKI SHELTER FOR ANIMALS
The John A Bukowski Shelter for Animals is located in Bloomfield, NJ. Managed by the township of Bloomfield, the shelter’s animal control serves the towns of Bloomfield and Caldwell. It has been in existence for 40+ years. The shelter is an extremely low-kill shelter. The majority of the animals are adopted into permanent homes or transferred to rescues or sanctuaries to live out their lives. No animals were put down in 2009, amazing for a municipal shelter and a testament to the dedication of the volunteers. In 2010 only two dogs were put down, both for serious health reasons. Visit Facebook.com/stbbs, Twitter.com/SaveTheShelter and Petfinder.com/shelters/NJ517.html.

From April 1st through April 15th, we will be offering a special Autism Awareness cupcake to raise money for The Children’s Institute in Verona, NJ. This vanilla/vanilla cupcake is dairy, egg, nut, gluten and soy free and is topped in the colors representing autism awareness. Please join us in helping to support this school.

We added up the funds today, and we’re extremely happy to announce that we raised $405 for Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, FL. Thanks to everyone who purchased a Tiger Blood cupcake!! Looks like the tigers are WINNING now, Charlie!!

We added up all the money raised for Patrick and the Associated Humane Society in Newark (who originally rescued Patrick). Including a personal donation made by us, dog cookie sales (so far), we have raised $701 for Patrick!!! This is absolutely amazing, considering we just started raising funds this past Tuesday (3/22). THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!! We will continue selling dog cookies to raise funds for Patrick and the Associated Humane Society.

Updates on Patrick can be found here:
- Associated Humane Societies
- Photos of Patrick posted by Garden State Veterinary Services

This video of Patrick’s road to recovery had me in tears again. We’re hoping he gets better ASAP. Thank you to everyone who has donated to his recovery. Today was a great day for the Red Velvet cupcakes for Patrick. Let’s keep it going through the rest of the week so we can help this adorable doggie. Days like today make me extremely proud to own a vegan bakery. All animals deserve our love and respect. ♥

For up-to-date information on Patrick’s road to recovery, please visit the following websites:
Associated Humane Popcorn Park Shelter
Garden State Veterinary Specialists

Many of you have already heard the heart-wrenching story about Patrick, the red-nosed pitbull who was starved to death and thrown in the garbage at a Newark apartment building. If you haven’t heard, please read more about it here: http://www.gsvs.org/news/patrick.asp

When I read about this story yesterday, I could not stop crying. I knew that we had to help in whatever way we could. We called and donated money, but Patrick needs whatever he can get. He has a long road of recovery ahead of him. We have decided to make an additional donation of $1 per red velvet cupcake sold (perfect for the red-nosed pup) from Tuesday, March 22nd – Friday, March 25th. We’ve also chosen Red Velvet because it is our most popular and best-selling cupcake, which means more donations for Patrick.

** For those that are not local, a kit of four red velvet cupcakes with 4 containers of cream cheese frosting (all vegan, of course) can now be ordered on our Shop page. Orders will ship out on Friday. Thank you for your support! **

Additionally, donations can be made by calling the facility that is currently taking care of Patrick – Garden State Veterinary Specialists in Tinton Falls, NJ (732-922-0011). Donations can also be made on their website, via Paypal (http://www.gsvs.org/news/patrick.asp).

Please help save Patrick!

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Patrick’s full story can be found here: http://www.ahscares.org/showarchive.asp?id=772

Love him or hate him, you knew it was coming. Introducing Tiger Blood – A blood orange cake with blood orange-infused mixed berry filling, topped with vanilla frosting. #WINNING

A portion of the proceeds from all of the Tiger Blood cupcakes will be donated to Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, FL to help with the care and feeding of their big cats (including the tigers!).