Olsen didn’t have an immediate food estimate for this year Saturday afternoon. But the number of volunteers was down, she said, slowing the process and leading to some missed collections. Olsen said about 3,500 people turned out to help, down from 4,000 or more in past years.
“We do what we can with what we have,” Olsen said.
Everything collected from the drive benefits the Clark County Food Bank and its many partner organizations helping needy families. Now in its 28th year, the event takes an army of volunteers and a lot of coordination to be successful, Olsen said.
Lewis, a local den leader with Cub Scout Pack 494, met his group Saturday morning at Alki Middle School, one of several drop-off sites across the county. As the seven children and four adults made their way through their designated neighborhood, knocking on doors, the young Scouts celebrated each bag they collected. One by one, donations filled the bed of a pickup driven by Vancouver resident Marty Alexander, whose son Spencer also took part.
At one point, Lewis’ 7-year-old son Jackson said: “We hit the jackpot.”
Eventually they brought their load back to the middle school, where a semi trailer was waiting. That’s where sector coordinator Jeff Fish spent much of the day, handing out collection route maps first thing in the morning and later helping load the dozens of donation bags that poured in.
