Let’s Get Baking

Alana Masters, Writer|November 13, 2020

The Help The Hungry Bake Sale raised over $97.000 for local food pantries this year.

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“It has really grown…we have raised over $600,000… over the past 15 years.”

— Chris Landrum

To help our two local food pantries, St. Vincent Depaul and the Farmington Ministerial Alliance, our community has a yearly bake sale called Help the Hungry Bake Sale. The proceeds raised from this event help the pantries replenish their food supplies. The success of the bake sale is in large part to the donations from our community. “It’s a tradition…and its purpose is to feed the hungry,” states Debbie Bowling. The bake sale is full of homemade goodies, food, and crafts, there is also a silent and live auction. There were beautiful baskets filled with goodies ready for the taking. The live auction was a hit as well, people eagerly waited to grab at the opportunity to bid on their favorite items.

This year, in particular, the focus was on making the bake sale as safe as possible for people to come and shop while having fun. They had someone taking your temperature at the door and asked basic questions about your health. Masks were mandated, as that is our new norm, but if you didn’t have one, they had extras on hand. Each attendee was also asked to use hand sanitizer before entering the bake sale. There were several booths that had beautiful masks for sale with lots of festive holiday designs to choose from. The event was held on November 7th, at the Centene Center in Farmington, instead of the traditional location at St. Joseph Catholic School. This was to ensure that people would be able to properly social distance as much as possible.

The bake sale has been very successful at contributing to our community for over 15 years. This year, although a unique situation, was still able to raise over $97,742. For the second year, Farmington will also host an ice skating rink at Wilson Rozier Park beginning Thanksgiving night. Donations from that will also go towards Help the Hungry, which is expected to bring the grand total of donations to over $100,000. The organizer and founder of this charity is Chris Landrum. Chris says, “It has really grown…we have raised over $600,000… over the past 15 years.” Without the community this would not have grown into the success it has been for so long.

The National Honor Society attended the bake sale and helped in the cafe, which offered various lunch items. Raelynn Wood, a senior at FHS said, “everyone is so willing to donate money and time…to help the community.” With any charitable event, success is not due to one person or group. It is truly a blessing for the community for so many people to open their hearts and donate their time, goodies, and money for the needy.