FARMINGTON, Minn. — By most accounts, Halloween snow had a chilling effect on Twin Cities Trick-or-Treat numbers this year.
But the cold did nothing to slow down a heartwarming parade of support that had been building outside a Farmington home during the final week of October.
KARE 11 first shared the story behind Jon Brimacomb's Halloween food drive on Friday. In honor of his 20th year collecting donations for the Farmington Food Bank, he aimed to bring in 1,000 pounds of food in honor of his late wife, Suzie Brimacomb.
He says Suzie started the effort in 2003, shortly after she was diagnosed with cancer for the first time.
"She had five different cancers, eight different times, over 18 years," Jon said. "The food drive actually did two things for us. It let us look beyond cancer and help other people. That was important to both of us."
A Ton of Support
Days after sharing his story, the community responded in a major way.
"The response was immediate," Jon said. "Donations started pouring in and the cars just kept coming all weekend."
The traffic picked up even more on Halloween itself. Many of the Trick-or-Treaters came with cans or bags of food.
By the end of the night, Jon's basement was packed beyond anything he'd ever seen.
"I figure Suzanne is up there working her magic. It's just amazing," he said. "This is way past what I was expecting this year."
On Thursday morning, he finally got to see exactly how far that goodwill went.
The first carload of canned goods weighed in at 1,138 pounds by itself. By the time he delivered another three loads of donations, the final total was 3,235 pounds.
"That's a ton and a half!" said Karen Brownawell, director of the Farmington Food Shelf. "It's just incredible."
Karen and a team of food shelf volunteers shared hugs, and tears, with Jon after reading the total.
They say they will use every single ounce of his support.
"Our demand is up so much," she said. "We had record traffic in 2022 and we're seeing a 25 to 30 percent increase I'd say in families coming in every week this year. He is a blessing."
Jon says he couldn't have done any of it alone.
"I know (Suzie) was pulling strings," he said. "And the community just blew me away. It was really a perfect storm of Thanksgiving after Halloween."
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