The annual Interservice Walk and Knock food drive returned to its usual pickup format over the weekend following two years of a “Drive and Drop” setup to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
At locations across Clark County, volunteers brought in their hauls after they canvassed neighborhoods to pick up donated food that was placed out on porches and outside of houses. That food was taken by semi-trucks to the Clark County Food Bank, the beneficiary of the drive.
One hub where volunteers dropped off what they collected from homes was the Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue’s Dollar’s Corner station. The site covered the Battle Ground and Hockinson areas. Volunteers, which included JROTC members, loaded up the vehicles and packed away what was collected so it could be sent off to the food bank.
Interservice Walk and Knock receives volunteer support from a number of organizations, which include local Lions, Rotary and Kiwanis chapters, the Clark County Amateur Radio Club, area Boy and Girl Scout troops, local trucking companies, and church and school groups, alongside hundreds of other volunteers.
Ken Steinke has been the lead on the site for eight years, but has been involved with Walk and Knock for around 30, he said. Steinke first got involved through the Battle Ground Lions Club, which provides coffee and doughnuts to the volunteers.
For just the Battle Ground and Hockinson areas, Steinke said there were around 300 volunteers who picked up donations. Although the volunteers headed off to residences across the county like in pre-pandemic years, they didn’t knock on doors and instead picked up donations left out on the porch.
Having volunteers head out to pick up donations was a return to form after two years of a “Drive and Drop” operation due to the pandemic. In 2020 and 2021, county residents were asked to head to one of several locations with their donations, similar to the volunteers who traveled to the hubs to drop off what they collected.
“It was quite a change,” Steinke said, noting donations seemed to drop off in the second year of the Drive and Drop.
He hoped the return to the old format would spur more people to donate.
Walk and Knock Treasurer Stephen Staudinger said the Drive and Drop years garnered more donations of money compared to food. Last year, the drive raised around $90,000, alongside more than 104,000 pounds of food.
Steinke said the drive’s return to its original format was a welcome change, especially given how it mobilizes the county to volunteer.
“I like this better because it involves more people in the community,” Steinke said. “It gives a lot more people the opportunity to volunteer and do something.”
