After 31 years of running the largest annual one-day food drive benefitting the Clark County Food Bank, Walk & Knock volunteers aren’t afraid to experiment.
Over the last few years, donations have stayed about the same despite swift population growth in Clark County. Donations peaked in 2010, when 166 tons, or 332,000 pounds, of food was collected. Last year, Walk & Knock collected 133 tons, or about 266,000 pounds, of food and $14,000 in monetary donations. Board member and volunteer Tom Knappenberger takes that as a sign that Walk & Knock isn’t reaching everyone. Maybe newcomers don’t know about the food drive or don’t get the newspaper.
“We’re trying different things this year to educate and remind them,” he said.
That includes a prerecorded call from former Trailblazer announcer Bill Schonely, reminding people to put out a bag of nonperishable food on their doorstep before 9 a.m. Saturday. Employees at both Chuck’s Produce stores have been wearing buttons reminding customers about Saturday’s food drive and stapling reminder cards to grocery bags. Also, reminder postcards were sent to about 10,000 homes in Camas.
While it will be difficult to determine what boosts food donations, Walk & Knock and the food bank are eager to see if these methods work this weekend.
Food distribution has leveled off, recently returning to pre-recession levels with the improving economy.
That doesn’t mean hunger has gone away, said Matt Edmonds, program manager at the Clark County Food Bank. Many families in Clark County are still food insecure.
A couple of years ago, Walk & Knock revamped its website and has a few hundred people following its Facebook page, where updates and reminders are posted. The food bank is doing a social media push as well.
“We live in such a generous community, and that is never more evident than it is around the holiday season,” Edmonds said.
The food bank is the distribution center for food pantries around the county.
Last year, volunteers began leaving door hangers at homes to either thank people for their donations or to let people know how and where they can still donate. Those who can’t put food on the doorstep before 9 a.m. Saturday can drop off food at one of 64 sites around the county, listed online at www.walkandknock.org. People can donate online allowing the Clark County Food Bank to purchase the food it needs, and there’s information about volunteering at the drive on the website.
“Many hands make light work,” Knappenberger said.
About 4,000 people volunteer at Walk & Knock each year. The volunteers bring the bags to drop-off sites, where trucks wait to haul the donations to the food bank’s warehouse.
