Family Visits and A Pink Tractor

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and I'm sure there are few people who haven't been affected one way or the other by this horrible disease. Right now and for the entire month we have on display inside our Market a full sized John Deere tractor which was painted pink by a friend in honor of his wife who is currently battling breast cancer. (We moved it inside when it got cold outside.) Next to the tractor is information which you can take home or to direct you to donate to help researchers find a cure. This picture is of three sisters who came to visit the Market with a bus tour group. They were from Peoria, Illinois and were just thrilled to see this tractor. Their mother and grandmother had both died as a result of breast cancer. They were full of life and living it to the fullest with great optimism and joy. They were an inspiration!

Our Scarecrow Contest is also in full swing this month, and I can honestly declare it a wonderful success! The idea is that visitors and shoppers bring in non-perishable food items and place it in a box next to their favorite scarecrow and/or vendor. Our scarecrows are fun and some of them are quite creative! The contest part is for our vendors and at the end of October we will determine the winner based on how much food they collected! The vendor gets a nice prize, but the important thing is that we are collecting a boat load of food to help feed the hungry. On the 31st all of the food will be given to Joseph's Storehouse, a local food pantry run by Voice Ministries here in Elkhart.





In my last post I wrote about Lillian and how she came out just to bring some food. In this post I have to tell you about a lovely family who came out to do the same thing. I talked to the dad and he explained how he read about our Scarecrow Contest and food collection on our monthly email newsletter which he had subscribed to off of our website. He thought that it would be a great opportunity for he and his wife to do a fun thing with their two kids and also help them to learn to give to other people who are less fortunate. I was so happy to hear this story since this is exactly the kind of activity and opportunity we as a Market hope to offer. People connecting with people!

Meet Lillian

We are having a food drive at the Market right now to help replenish a local food bank here in Elkhart. The supplies are low, and we want to help.

So we are having a Scarecrow Contest to encourage people. They bring in non-perishable food items and put them in the box next to their favorite scarecrow...or their favorite vendor. The vendor with the most items donated by the end of October will win a nice prize! But the real winners are the needy folks in Elkhart County who will be able to pick up some great food to eat this winter!

There are so many people who come into the Market every week, but let me tell you about Lillian. One day not long ago I was in our Welcome Center in the food court. This very nice older lady walks up and asks if we have a cart or something she could use to bring in some food donations. She says she saw it in the newspaper that we were having a food drive, and she wanted to donate. Now I'm thinking, "How much stuff could she have that she would need a cart!" But I say to her, "I will get a cart and help you bring it in." She denies that she needs my help, but I insist and go off to find a cart.

When I come back with the cart, she takes me out to her Ford Explorer and opens the hatch to reveal two very large trash bags full of groceries. I am astounded! How generous! I also thought that she really did need my help. There was a lot of stuff, and it was heavy. I load it onto the cart and head for the door with her alongside me. As we are walking along I ask her if she has a favorite vendor where she wants to leave her items, and she is quite adamant about where she wants to donate. "Shipshe Casuals and Bea's Doll Boutique," she says without hesitation. These were definitely her favorites!

So we unload half at Shipshe Casuals and half at Bea's Doll Boutique. I thank her profusely for her generosity, and then she states, "Now I need to shop!" And shop she did. I saw her later with her shopping bags...one from Bea's Doll Boutique and one from Shipshe Casuals. Lillian, you're my kind of people! Thanks for being one of our regulars!