About 1,600 individuals and families use the Cambridge Self-Help Food Bank each month.
While the need is year-round, donations drop drastically during the summer months.
“People are very loving and thoughtful of the Food Bank at Easter, Christmas and Thanksgiving,” says CJ Janzen. “But between April and October there is a gap.”
So Janzen organized the Can-Do Garage Sale at the Preston Mennonite Church. Books, bikes and baked goods were traded for cans and non-perishable food items.
“Food has value,” says Janzen. “So what I wanted was for people to recognize that value. They came in with food and they left with things that made them happy.”
Supporters were so enthusiastic about the event that they started lining up well before 8:30 a.m. with food and items to donate.
Janzen was overwhelmed by the response.
“That church is filled with love, and my goal is to get that love back out into the community.”
Leftover items will be donated to the Cambridge Vineyard Christian Fellowship’s free store.
More than $2,500 worth of cash and food were collected and will be given to the Cambridge Self-Help Food Bank.
