April Myers’ recipe for life includes handfuls of commitment to her work at UGA, heaping support from family and friends and plenty of spoonfuls of sugar to sweeten a cause.
Two years after the death of her father following a battle with cancer, Myers has tripled her fundraising efforts for the Loran Smith Center for Cancer Support by using her passion for baking to support its efforts.
The senior accountant in the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, Myers donates her time and the ingredients while seeking $25 donations for her “Cakes for a Cause.” Co-workers in New College love to taste test the recipes, from her fresh strawberry and peach cakes-which won awards at Jaemor Farms’ bake-offs earlier this year-to her most recent confectionery concoction, carrot cake.
During the weekdays, Myers focuses on numbers, managing 74 state and foundation accounts, signing off on P-card purchases, processing check requests and handling payroll. She also posts open positions and manages the paperwork for new or departing employees. Myers said her work has little to do with her hobby, although she does her fair share of number crunching when she splits recipes or makes other changes. Most of all, though, her work ethic and tenacity carry over to her baking and fundraising.
“My goal is to help other people,” Myers said of both purposes in her life. “That’s what I like to do.”
After joining UGA 12 years ago in the payroll department, Myers has worked her way up, teaching herself new skills and being flexible enough to work in multiple departments along the way.
Joining the Provost’s Office two years ago, the Royston woman multi-tasks at work the same way she moves between baking layers and frosting in her kitchen.
Careful to handle state and foundation funds properly, Myers knows the importance of fundraising. That is why she got involved in the organization that helped her father so much during his cancer battle.
And she isn’t shy about seeking donations for the annual In Their Shoes Walk, a half-marathon scheduled for Oct. 25.
“It’s a long way,” Myers said of the walk, which she prepares for by participating in training walks, riding her bike, walking and working out at the Ramsey Student Center for Physical Activities. “The point behind the half-marathon walk is you are walking in a cancer patient’s shoes. It symbolizes the long road cancer patients must endure during their battle with cancer.”
Myers thinks of her father while she walks and while she bakes-especially when she’s making his favorite, key lime cake.
Myers raised more than $1,500 in her first two years participating in the event, but with the addition of her cakes this year, her donations have topped $3,600 as of last month. That isn’t counting the $1,200 in ingredients that she purchased on her own.
“I don’t quit,” Myers said of her fundraising goal, although the phrase also could be said of her work at UGA. “I’ve made a lifelong, year-round commitment.”
