Free goodies for anyone willing to share

SHELLEY — A local woman who started her own little “farmer’s market” decided she wanted to do something nice for her customers, then she had a bigger idea.

Melissa Daniels and her friend Brittany Ivins are giving away chocolate chip cookies, fudge and cinnamon rolls for free tomorrow, Friday, Dec. 11, from 3-5:30 p.m. The catch? Anyone who wants a goodie has to take two and give one away.

“I thought, ‘you know, I can give someone a treat and it makes them happy for, like, five seconds. But if I can give them the chance to give someone else a treat, that really makes you feel good when you get to give something away,'” Daniels told Community Pioneer.

She explained the idea sprang from wanting to give treats to her customers. Daniels sells home-grown garden produce in the summer and baked goods in the winter. She calls the little business Melissa’s Farmer’s Market.

“There’s a lot of people who maybe don’t know how to bake or don’t have the means to make a treat or don’t have the time. And so I thought, ‘well, what if I just make enough treats for people to be able to give a treat away,'” Daniels said.

She and Ivins plan to make 400 each of the fudge, cinnamon rolls, and cookies. That way, 200 people can get a treat and give a treat.

“Anyone who comes, each individual person, will be able to pick out any treat they want, and then we’ll say ‘the only way you can take it is if you take a second one and give it to somebody else,'” Daniels said.

She said each homemade item is wrapped and ready to be given away. Because Daniels usually sells her goods, Daniels said she is very conscientious about making sure her food is safe.

“I mean I’m, I’m pretty anal about it,” she said.

Daniels started her little “farmer’s market” last summer after her camper burned down and her truck caught on fire.

“It started as a way that me and the kids were going to save up to buy a new one. And then they just loved it. And so I just kept going,” she said.

She sells a variety of items, from garden produce to baked goods like cookies, fudge, cinnamon rolls, fresh wheat bread and a variety of other homemade goods.

“Sometimes, I do have one other thing. Spicy raspberry jam, that’s what everyone likes, the spicy raspberry jam,” Daniels said.

Melissa’s Farmer’s Market is on Facebook. There, customers can see all that Daniels has available and place orders.

“I love it. Like, I’m so social I think COVID just killed me. I didn’t get to see anyone from church or anywhere. And so I just enjoyed the social aspect of people coming and being able to talk to them,” Daniels said. “It’s been really fun.”