The minivan was rolling slowly down the middle of the street, but Ivory Adams and Trinadee Blanton were in high gear on the sidewalk. The two girls dashed up a walkway to the front step of a house that had just what they were looking for: a bag of food.
“We got it!” Blanton, 10, announced as Adams carried the bag to the open rear hatch of the minivan.
Adams, 11, noted that they’re not exactly rookies.
“We’ve done this before,” Adams said. And they’ve learned that not every house has a sack of food waiting outside the front door: “Some do, some don’t.”
But the contribution from that house in Fisher’s Landing added a few more pounds to the Walk & Knock food drive’s Saturday take of almost 115 tons.
It was the 32nd edition of the annual food drive, which benefits the Clark County Food Bank.
The county’s biggest annual pantry stuffer relies on up to 4,000 volunteers, including members of nonprofit organizations such as Autism Empowerment, which mobilized Adams and Blanton and the rest of their team.
The group fielded about 35 walk-and-knock participants, including young people on the autism spectrum, their family members and peer mentors.
The morning activity was part of a program called Autism Cares Kids Serve Club. Launched just over a year ago, the club is a way to get young people on the autism spectrum involved in community activities, said Karen Krejcha, executive director of Autism Empowerment.
To observe Veterans Day, “Last month they made care kits for homeless veterans,” Krejcha said. “And we want them to understand why they’re doing what they’re doing. We tie learning into it.”
Krejcha said that kids on the autism spectrum are used to receiving services; they get few opportunities to help other people. Saturday was a chance to enjoy helping others … and Zachary Borghello did just that.
“I am having so much fun gathering food,” the 13-year-old said as he headed down the sidewalk.
When the teams finished their routes or filled their vehicles, the drivers headed for one of the 10 collection points. More volunteers waited to off-load the donations, put food in boxes and then stack the boxes in a semi-trailer.
At Wy’east Middle School, sector coordinator Becky Writt judged that “things are looking good. And it’s not raining.”
That sector has been an important piece of the food-supply network.
“The last couple of years, we’ve collected the most food. Last year, we collected 16 tons,” Writt said.
Last year’s final countywide total was 132 tons, said Justin Wood, Walk & Knock president.
As of Saturday night, the total delivered to the food bank warehouse stood at 114.58 tons.
This year’s campaign isn’t over, however. Food in donation barrels around the county haven’t come in yet. If they produce the same return as last year’s donation barrels, the 2016 total could hit about 128 tons, Wood said — about four tons shy of the 2015 total.
