Getting a request to attend church isn’t new. Getting an invite to a dessert auction on Jan. 9 at Immanuel Baptist Church is!
With my Jefferson County homegirl Kathy Rogers riding with me to the Hodgson Memorial Drive sanctuary, we arrive and find our hostess Raegan Dillon waiting for us at their Family Life Center.
Credit: Bunny Ware / For Savannah Morning News
Credit: Bunny Ware / For Savannah Morning News
Wearing electric pink everything and speaking in a loud whisper, Raegan explains, “We have hosted a dessert auction for 13 years and use the money to help fund our youths activities and mission trips.”
Making sure I have a plate of fried chicken, potato salad and her homemade mac-n-cheese, Raegan then waves over fellow Calvary Day School alumna Catherine Martin and DeRenne Middle School media specialist Amber Crump for introductions.
Wondering why Raegan speaks in such a unique deep voice, I learn that she is a 20-year laryngeal cancer survivor. “I lost a vocal cord during tumor removal surgery - I was a lot louder before the surgery,” explains the exuberant STEM Academy robotics teacher.
Credit: Bunny Ware / For Savannah Morning News
Credit: Bunny Ware / For Savannah Morning News
Over on the lunch line is Anna Grace Martin with Sara and Melissa Bond. The ladies tell me that today's meal is donated by the youth's parents and that different church members donate the desserts that will be auctioned off. On that note, I head out to the dessert table to gaze at coconut cakes, a cherry cobbler and cake pops filled with "God's sugar - it's good for you!"
Standing proudly in front of her coconut chocolate "stress cake," I ask Arizona native Tina Brogdon to explain. "It was a rough week and this cake is the result," shares the 15-year church member while posing with her husband, Clayton, a Savannah native that retired from Union Camp aka International Paper.
Next up is another International Paper guy, Bob Crump. Sporting a Georgia Bulldogs shirt, the 33-year IP utilities department guy tells that he and his wife Amber love the fellowship and family here. Anna Grace Martin then joins us to tell us that she is the proud creator of those yummy looking cake pops that we should bid on.
Credit: Bunny Ware / For Savannah Morning News
Credit: Bunny Ware / For Savannah Morning News
Moving over to the next table, I snap a pic of Ohio natives Pat and David Osbourne. After learning that David is a former principal of Groves High School and is a fellow Coach Karl DeMasi fan, I mosey back over to Raegan's table to start my bidding war for a pan of "ooey gooey cake brownies".
Credit: Bunny Ware / For Savannah Morning News
Credit: Bunny Ware / For Savannah Morning News
The next 30 minutes is a downright comedy show. Everyone is outbidding everything. Raegan may be that she is the official bidding war expert! After losing out on the yellow cake with chocolate icing "classic beauty" and a key lime cake to Mr. Ennis Purcell, Raegan and her 19-year-old son Nicholas win a Oreo trifle. Y'all can pray for me because I outbid Pastor Lane Sanders on the brownies. The Warner Robins native is gracious in his defeat.
Next up, I pose Beverly Purcell with her daughters Jenny Parker and Catherine Martin then head to the back table where Beverly Wall and her daughter-in-law Cindy Wall sit with Betty McGinnis and Catherine Hitt. Ranging from 60-to-92-years-old, (I will let you guess who the oldest is), I learn that three of the ladies are widows and that Ms. Beverly is the grandmother of my old WJCL photog/videographer Travis Jones.
Credit: Bunny Ware / For Savannah Morning News
Credit: Bunny Ware / For Savannah Morning News
After taking a selfie with Travis' Aunt Cindy and Ms. Beverly, I take a seat to talk with IBC student pastor Andrew Desko. "We usually have a big summer camp (and) mission trip every year. From processing clothing donations and landscaping to feeding the homeless, our mission trips have been to Greenville S.C., Chattanooga Tenn., and Clinton Miss," shares the Ohio native.
The money raised today will cover transportation, hotel and food — everything needed for a dozen middle and high school students on their annual June mission trip to serve the community and city they are visiting.
Credit: Bunny Ware / For Savannah Morning News
Credit: Bunny Ware / For Savannah Morning News
With the mission’s intent of spreading the hope and love of Jesus, my hope is that I get an invite back out next year to see this southside church serve up some more delicious desserts for a worthy cause.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Sharing the sweet life at Immanuel Baptist Church's 13th annual Dessert Auction
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