Vancouver City Council schedules end-of-summer picnic

The Vancouver City Council will forgo a weekly meeting in favor of a community picnic, 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, Aug. 26 at LeRoy Haagen Memorial Community Park, Northeast Ninth Street and 136th Avenue.

The public is invited to support the Share Backpack Program, which provides backpacks filled with nutritious food to some Clark County students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.

Picnic attendees are encouraged to bring items on the program’s Web page at http://www.sharevancouver.org/Programs/childrens-hunger-initiative, or make a monetary donation to the program.

“This end-of-summer picnic is a great chance for people to gather and talk about important community issues face-to-face with city council members. Folks can come out, have fun and support a good cause,” said Diane McWithey, executive director of Share, according to a city press release.

“We are grateful to the Vancouver City Council for their continued support of Share. This food drive will support our Backpack Program just in time for back to school, which annually provides more than 51,300 food packs to children and their families, who are at risk of hunger,” McWithey said.

Burgerville will bring its Nomad food truck to help support the food drive. The first 300 people who bring a donation of five pounds or more of food from the list of items needed by the Share Backpack Program, or who provide a $6 donation to the program, will receive a voucher for a meal from the food truck.

The city will provide some additional picnic tables, but bring a blanket or lawn chairs if desired.