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!