Michael and Brittany Eckert have long been committed to giving back to their community.
Be it through their nonprofit, Community Hope Project, or their bakery, Simply Tasteful Creations, the East Deer couple never stops trying to find ways to help others.
Michael’s latest endeavor is Colossal’s Greatest Baker competition, a remote competition that raises money and awareness for the Andrew McDonough B Foundation.
According to its website, the foundation honors the life of Andrew McDonough, who battled leukemia, septic shock and complications of childhood cancer for 167 days before passing away July 14, 2007, at 14.
Founded in 2007, the foundation raises money through events and partnerships to provide financial and emotional support to families of children with cancer nationwide and fund childhood cancer research.
Michael is facing off against thousands of bakers from across America. To help manage the number of people in the competition, the bakers are sorted into groups. He was in a group with five competitors, as of Jan. 5.
For the competition, he is charged with “staying constantly visible.” Michael makes a new creation each day and posts photos of them on his social media and his competition’s account page.
“I just have to be creative as possible,” he said.
To progress to the next round, bakers need to compete for votes.
People pay to vote for their favorite baker. That money is then donated to Andrew McDonough B Foundation.
Since it’s creation in 2022, the competition has raise more than $6 million.
To vote for Michael, visit greatestbaker.org/MiachaelEckert. He said he expects voting to end in late Febuary or early March.
The competition’s winner receives $10,000 and a spotlight in “Bake From Scratch” magazine.
“The fact that this competition gets Michael’s name out there as a baker but also helps children — that’s huge,” Brittany said.
Baking for a cause
In addition to working as a custodian for the Deer Lakes School District, Michael Eckert, 34, is the co-owner of Simply Tasteful Creations, which was founded by Brittany, 39.
She founded the bakery in 2009 shortly after finishing culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu Institute of Culinary Arts in Pittsburgh.
“I always loved cooking and baking,” she said. “My grandparents and my mom taught me everything I knew.”
Brittany said she began the business to offer her creations to family and friends. It slowly grew from there.
Michael began taking a more active role in the company when the two got together in 2015. The goal was to grow the business into a brick-and-mortar shop somewhere in East Deer.
“Then, unfortunately, life hit us hard,” Brittany said.
In April 2016, she was diagnosed with stage 4 uterine carcinosarcoma, a rare, aggressive cancer of the uterus. Her doctor told her she had a better chance of winning the Powerball than getting diagnosed with that form of cancer.
“I was diagnosed at 29 and basically handed a death sentence,” she said.
According to a study from the Journal of Gynecological Oncology, late-stage diagnoses have around a 0% to 10% chance for five-year survival.
The bakery plans were put on the backburner as she went through chemotherapy and internal radiation treatments.
“I made it through, thankfully,” Brittany said.
Throughout the process of Michael supporting her through treatment, she learned that he liked to cook. As Brittany started getting better and baking more, she began teaching her husband how to make different dishes and desserts, solidifying his role in Simply Tasteful Creations.
As a cancer survivor and a passionate humanitarian, the competition hits close to home for Brittany. She does what she can to cheer on and support her husband through the process.
What winning brings
Simply Tasteful Creations offers a variety of bagels, breads, donuts, pies, chocolates, pastries and other goodies.
All of their goods are made from the things they have on their homestead.
“If we don’t (have something), we work with local farms,” Michael said.
They initially set up shop in Palmer’s Pharmacy in the Russellton neighborhood of West Deer. As their business grew, they were required to get additional permits, briefly pausing their operations. The couple remains undetered in accomplishing their dream.
“Everything we do, since Day One, has been together,” Michael said.
If Michael wins the $10,000 prize money, the couple plans to put part of it toward upgrading essential equipment, expanding their kitchen space and securing the needed permits.
The rest would go toward Community Hope Project’s “Support a Cop” program and other local charity drives, he said.
“Our ultimate goal is to just keep giving back,” Michael said.