EDWARDSBURG — As the sun was setting last Wednesday evening, one Edwardsburg family was taking time to remember their matriarch the way she would have wanted — by giving back to their community.

The family of the late Linda Gibson has spent the last several months raising money to donate a new, industrial size fridge to the Edwardsburg Food Pantry in Gibson’s honor. A ceremony and ribbon cutting was hosted on Jan. 10 at Our Lady of the Lake Church in to thank the family for their contribution.

At the event, Gibson’s family wiped tears from their eyes as food pantry officials unveiled the new fridge, and placed a small golden plaque carrying Gibson’s name on the fridge.

“It’s great,” said Gibson’s daughter, Melissa Ryker. “[Gibson] would have loved it.”

Gibson, 70, passed away on May 29, 2017. Her children, Ryker and Doug Gibson, described her as a warm, compassionate woman who always looked to take care of others in the community. They recalled one instance in particular where a patient at the hospital once mentioned that she wanted to taste a fresh strawberry, so Gibson found some from a farm stand and brought them to the hospital that evening.

“We were so lucky to have her as our mom,” Ryker said. “She loved fiercely and didn’t know a stranger. If she met someone she didn’t know, they would become her best friend.”

Gibson, along with her husband Jerry, had a long history of community service in Edwardsburg, which is what prompted Jerry to raise money to donate the fridge in her honor.

“If mom would have had the means to do this when she was alive, she would have,” Doug said. “It’s great that the community was able to get together and do this in her name. In a way, it’s like she still gets to give.”

Jerry added that he knew donating to the pantry was the right decision due to the amount of need for it in the community.

“She would have wanted to help. She was a giving person,” Jerry said. “You couldn’t ask for a better cause [than the food pantry], I think.”

Stan Mason, an employee of the Edwardsburg Food Pantry, said the donation will allow the pantry to keep more fresh food for longer, which will help the organization provide healthier food to the people of Edwardsburg.

“We’ve been trying to get healthier here, and we had been looking for a bigger fridge for a while, so we were so glad to hear what the Gibsons were doing by raising money,” Mason said. “Before, we had to turn away a lot of produce or we had no place to put it or had a lot of spoilage, so this will be great for the community.”

Mason added that the food pantry is grateful for the Gibsons’ donation.

“I think it’s a great thing to do [to donate the fridge in Gibson’s honor],” Mason said. “We think its wonderful.”