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Cakes Fruitful For Church

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By YVETTE C. HAMMETT, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 30, 2007

BRANDON - Evelyn Sanchez is a child of the Depression, the fifth of 11 children who grew up unaware of how poor her family was.

So when she found a real deal on 40 pounds of pecan halves four years ago, she snapped them up and hauled them from Georgia to her home in Brandon. She could not wait to tell the ladies at her church she had purchased the pecan halves for their holiday fruitcake-making marathon.

When she broke the news, she got some news of her own: The church group would not be making fruitcakes that year.

Refusing to waste the nuts, Sanchez set to work at home.

Since then, she has raised thousands of dollars for her church and outreach ministries by baking fruitcakes in her kitchen, selling them and giving the profit to charity.

And she's back at it this year.

Through Dec. 15, Sanchez is taking orders for fruitcakes she makes using the popular Mrs. Harvey's White Fruitcake recipe published in The Tampa Tribune for the first time 56 years ago.

Sanchez's holiday sweet treats proved popular from Day One.

"After that first year, people started calling me," Sanchez said. The following year, she bought pecans through the First United Methodist Church, which sells the nuts each year. The broker for the Methodist church gave her another deal.

On baking days, Sanchez spends several hours on each batch, filling fruitcake pans to the brim with colorful candied pineapple chunks, cherries and pecans, baking them and then packing them tightly in plastic wrap to protect them from the elements.

"I'm not even a fruitcake fan, but it's excellent," said Don Horton, pastor of the Brandon Church of God. Sanchez is a member of the church and has donated the fruits of her labor there on more than one occasion.

One year, the fruitcake proceeds helped pay a debt for rehabilitation work on the church parsonage. Another year they paid for roof work. This year, a portion of the money will help pay for a new church parking lot.

Last year, after spending time at a children's home in Israel, Sanchez opted to send some of the money there and to several other Christian organizations working to help Jews in Israel.

One of those organizations, For Zion's Sake Ministries, has a base in Brandon and is run by Bracha Buford, an Israelite who moved to the United States and continues to help those in her homeland.

"The Bible says we should support Israel, and what we do is teach in the churches and take people to Israel for volunteer work ... so they can see firsthand where the money goes," Buford said. She said Sanchez's donation helped victims of terrorism and children living in orphanages.

Some patrons who purchase fruitcakes add a bit extra for the ministries, Sanchez said. Some make outright cash donations. Last year, an anonymous donor gave Sanchez $2,000 cash, which she added to the $3,000 she made selling fruitcakes.

"All the extra adds up," she said. "But how can I turn it down? The Bible says if we bless Israel, we will be blessed. Who am I to deprive someone of a blessing?"

She said she remembers a quote from Ecclesiastes 9:10 in the Old Testament:

"Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might."

For now, she said, that's baking fruitcakes.

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 657-4532 or at yhammett@tampatrib.com.

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