Mother’s Cupcake Shop Helps Blind Daughter See Future Possibilities

Made with sugar but baked with a mother?s love. A cupcake shop in Las Cruces serves more than iced treats; it is helping a young girl see future possibilities.

The owner of Cupcake Hut and Rock N Roll Gift Shop, located at 2001 Lohman Avenue in the Arroyo Plaza, said her love for all things sweet did not inspire her to open the store – it was the love for her daughter that did.

Using a cash register, Krisha Delong teaches her 11-year-old daughter, Kambree Wilbanks, a simple math lesson.

“She’ll sit back here and when people come in she’ll say, ?Can I take your order please,?? Delong said.

But the little entrepreneur-in-training cannot see; only hears and feels what is in front of her wandering green eyes.

“She functions totally blind,” Delong said.

Blind at birth, Kambree suffers from what is called Optic Nerve Hypoplasia, a rare disease that affects the brain and optic nerve.

“With Kambree’s disability, what is she going to do when she graduates,” Delong said. ?And I just thought, she likes to bake.?

With her walking cane in hand, Kambree said she understands why her mom opened the shop.

“She’s going to open the store because I?m blind,? Kambree said.

Delong said, Kambree?s inability to see opened her eyes to the Cupcake Hut.

“God gave me Kambree and I’m going to have her the rest of my life,? Delong said. ?So her and I doing this together until the end of time is why I did this, so she’ll have self-worth.”

Customers also recognize the meaning behind the frosted treats.

?God bless you, you’re in my prayers,” a woman said, as she embraced Kambree.

Baked with a whole lot of love, Delong sees the possibilities for her daughter to one day run the store by herself.

“My mom would be the best hero?ever,” Kambree said.

Delong says she will hold her daughter?s hand every step of the way.

“I can just be there for her, forever,? Delong said.

All proceeds from vanilla bean cupcakes go to a foundation called One Small Voice that supports research for Optic Nerve Hypoplasia.