A screen capture from an instructional video shows how Interservice Walk & Knock's "Drive & Drop" event took place.
Clark County’s annual food drive that used to go door-to-door had donors coming to them this year, and although the number of pounds of food donated was down, the event saw more than 10 times the amount in money donated for its 2020 event.
On Dec. 18 Interservice Walk & Knock released tallies from its 2020 event, this year called Drive & Drop given a change in procedure due to COVID-19. The event collected 130,000 pounds of food, down from the roughly 300,000 pounds collected annually in years past, but managed to raise more than 10 times the usual financial contribution, Interservice Walk & Knock President Tom Knappenberger said in the release.
By Dec. 22 that total had risen to $114,000, Knappenberger said. Among the fundraising was an anonymous $50,000 donation, the largest ever received by the organization.
“We thought we’d receive more financial contributions because of the virus,” Knappenberger
Said in the release. “But this is a staggering amount. Donations ranged from $5 to several $1,000 gifts and that amazing anonymous donation.”
This year’s food collection relied on designated sites instead of having volunteers collect bags included in local newspapers filled with food. On Dec. 5 eight sites around Clark County had volunteers taking donations from donors’ cars who drove up to the sites, in a manner which Knappenberger likened to the reverse of grocery pick-up at supermarkets.
“The response was heartwarming,” Knappenberger said in the release. “On a busy Saturday before Christmas, hundreds of people found time to drive and drop off their donations. It reminds you what a great community we have.”
The change-up in procedure was the result of Interservice Walk & Knock’s board deciding that they had to continue an annual food drive even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously Knappenberger explained that the board met through the Summer to discuss this year’s approach, settling on having the donations brought to them rather than have volunteers — whose numbers could be roughly 4,000 — go out and do the collection.
With organizers made up of members of local civics groups like Lions, Kiwanis and Rotary clubs, Walk & Knock donates the food and funds they collect to the Clark County Food Bank every year.
“Every pound and every dime goes directly to the food bank,” Knappenberger said. He added that money used to put on the event was raised through member group dues and sponsor companies.
Even with the $50,000 given, monetary donations were still several times the usual amount for a Walk & Knock year, which previously ranged around $10,000 in total, Knappenberger noted. He said about 275 monetary donations came in.
“Every one of them is important to us because it’s the act of giving that’s what Walk & Knock is all about,” Knappenberger said.
As opposed to sending out collection bags in newspapers, this year Walk & Knock organizers mailed out postcards informing recipients of the 2020 changeup in the event. Knappenberger estimated about 200,000 of the cards went out, adding that in some cases residents who were unaware of the fundraiser in prior years learned of the event through those mailings.
Knappengerber said the busiest site of the event was Chuck’s Produce in Salmon Creek, which collected about 27,000 pounds. He said safety was key for this year’s event, remarking that “there’s not one pound of food worth getting sick over.”
“All in all, since we have to switch gears to a whole new way of gathering food safely, we were really pleased with the way everything went,” Knappenberger said.
Knappenberger said that in years after COVID-19 Walk & Knock will likely return to its old procedure, though he added some new things learned in 2020 might be considered for changing it up in future events. He extended a “giant thank you” for everyone who participated, from volunteers, to sponsors and donors.
“We were able to pull (Walk & Knock) off this year under adverse circumstances, and that’s because of the generosity of people in Clark County,” Knappenberger said. “They really stepped up and came through.”
