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It is one sweet deal.

The institution that has been Asbury Pie Cafe at the State Fair for the last five decades delivered another tasty fund-raising effort.

Volunteers baked 1,760 pies that providing 10,560 servings that generated something just under $45,000 to help feed the hungry in Albuquerque, according to a news release from Asbury Pie Cafe Chairman Doug Smathers.

The group especially wanted to publicly thank the hundreds of volunteers from 10 local churches, plus all the businesses and individuals who chip in, he said.

“This business is a cooperative community effort taking place from early June through September with final accounting ending in early October,” Smathers said.

Originally organized to raise cash to build Asbury United Methodist Church, the pie venture evolved to its current mission to provide money to local food pantries to feed hungry people.

In June, people and businesses donate fruit including apricots, peaches and cherries, with volunteers picking, processing and freezing the fruit, he said.

In July, a few months before the fair, volunteers begin to prepare and freeze the pies, baking later.

Finally, in September, volunteers sign up and come into clean all the equipment that must pass state inspection.

Once the State Fair is under way, three shifts of workers transport the pies to the fair. Volunteers run the cafe and keep it clean.

“Pie bakers bake the pies fresh each day using the handmade frozen pies stockpiled during the summer,” Smathers said.

The cafe also served Frito pies, hamburgers, hot dogs, ice cream and drinks to raise money.

courtesy of roadfood.com This slice of apricot pie from the Asbury Cafe at the New Mexico State Fair helped raise nearly $45,000 this year in the cafe’s annual fund-raising effort. Volunteers bake 10,560 servings to help local food pantries“Pie bakers bake the pies fresh each day using the handmade frozen pies stockpiled during the summer.” Asbury Cafe Chairman Doug Smathers

— This article appeared on page B1 of the Albuquerque Journal