Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Columbia hosted a community book sale this weekend — but it wasn’t just any book sale.
John Eakin, a late parishioner of the church, donated over 1,000 books to the church from his collection through his will, most of which are cookbooks.
According to Sacred Heart’s office manager Barbara Head, Eakin was a parishioner at Sacred Heart for decades, until he died in September 2024 at the age of 82.
“When (Eakin) saw he had all these books, he wanted to help out in a way,” Head said. “He didn’t have a lot of money, but he felt that this was a way that he could say thank you.”
According to Head, several volunteers from the church spent over 80 hours combing through Eakin’s collection of books, some which were still in the original packaging. For her, Eakin’s collection of cookbooks is what stands out as his legacy.
“The meal, to me, is sharing,” Head said. “So hopefully John’s legacy can be that you get one of these cookbooks and try some new recipes and you invite people over.”
The church said that the proceeds received from the book sale this weekend will go towards replacing the church’s aging HVAC system.