PADUCAH – Martha’s Vineyard’s Junk Food Sale helped the organization raise funds to build a carport for cooler outdoor food storage.

Martha’s Vineyard helps provide for the needy who are homebound, seniors, veterans, and the disabled. They provide meals and food items such as butter, flour, eggs, etc. to those who cannot leave their homes.

The owner, Martha Bell, grew up in a family of 10 and said they always had enough to eat. Now she wants to help those who don’t.

“We’ve always had access to vegetables and all these things and I thought my whole life that everyone did, you know, but when I realized there were a lot of people who didn’t have access to what I had as a kid, I thought that was hard work. I wanted everyone to be equal and this way I can share my backstory with someone who doesn’t have it,” Bell said.

When the organization receives donations and has leftover food of a particular type, volunteers place the food outside near the building so that anyone who needs it can easily access it.

Faced with the summer heat, Martha’s Vineyard is trying to raise about $1,400 to purchase a carport that would help keep food cooler and protected from the sun.

On Saturday, the organization held a “junk food sale” with chocolate bars, sour candies, chips, nuts, gum, snack cakes and other food items donated by local stores.

Although each item cost only $0.50 to $1, Bell said the sale was successful and they raised three-quarters of the money they needed to purchase the carport.

“We want everyone to feel like they’ve done their part to keep neighborhood vegetables covered,” Bell said.

And last but not least, Bell said the sale allowed her to meet up with old friends.

“We once had a girl who volunteered here as a little kid. Then when she got to college, she came back and continued volunteering after college. Today she came by and gave me a check to help pay for our porch. And I just thought, you know, back in her life when she was nine years old, she never forgot Martha’s Vineyard,” Bell said.

As of Saturday evening, many items were still on sale. Bell said she plans to make a list of the items and hold a sale next week to encourage more people to stop by and shop.