What is National Muffin Day?
This year, we’re celebrating on Feb 26, 2023! For the past eight years, around National Muffin Day (which the food dictionary says is February 20th), we’ve encouraged people to bake muffins and distribute them to people experiencing homelessness in their cities. To sweeten our impact, we’ve donated money to homelessness causes for each Muffinteer who bakes and #givemuffins.
The result has been the muffin movement! Through our passion and the power of social media, over 1,500 friends, family members and strangers have baked and given away muffins (an estimated more than 15,000 muffins distributed in 45+ cities), resulting in thousands of dollars donated to causes, including Family Promise and Project Homeless Connect.
Here are a few places we’ve been featured: King Arthur Baking Company, Forbes, CNN, ABC, CBS’ Inside Edition, Pickler and Ben and Radio Cherry Bombe. Learn more on our website.
Become a Muffinteer
Be part of a community of people who share the muffin movement.
Facebook Page: Follow along for interesting updates
Muffinteer Group: Meet other Muffinteers from around the world
Instagram: Get inspired by delicious recipes and motivated Muffinteers
Twitter: Discover interesting articles on Muffin related topics
Why the Muffin
It’s a symbol of kindness and community. It’s about baking — an activity that takes time and is often for people you care about — and replicating that for a stranger. Not just any stranger, but someone who is hungry in your city.
It’s about stopping and noticing them on the street or finding where they may temporarily shelter — and making something for them (rather than just giving leftover food). A muffin won’t solve homelessness, we know that, but it will make more people aware of the needs in their community and to stop and treat them with kindness. This year, it’s symbolic due to Covid.
Who are we?
Jacob Kaufman is a tech lawyer living in San Francisco, who has been handing out muffins to hungry folks on his walk to work every week for nearly five years. Julia Levy works in communications and connected with Jacob eight years ago when she interviewed him for her past blog, Why We Give, that featured “ordinary philanthropists.”
As a result of that interview, the duo developed the idea o f taking National Muffin Day, a food day originally intended to celebrate the consumer, and flipping it around to focus on giving back to their communities. With over 500,000 people experiencing homelessness estimated in the U.S., there is no shortage of people in the need of warm, delicious muffins made with love.
Monthly Muffin Update
Since Muffin Day happens once a year around February 20th, we want to keep you updated with this newsletter in between on the ways you can make a meaningful impact through muffin endeavors.
Topics range from meeting the Muffinteer of the Month, philanthropic bakers and organizations working to help people who are experiencing homelessness and hunger. Every new edition of the newsletter goes directly to your inbox.
