Michele Clash and her 7-year-old son stopped outside the Issaquah-Pine Lake QFC double doors to hand volunteers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a bag of groceries Saturday.
She and her family have lived in Sammamish for about a decade. For as long as the city has participated in the Mayor’s Month of Concern for the Hungry, she’s donated.
“Every year, all the time, every store,” she said.
She donates because she wants to teach her boys “that reaching out to others in need is a way of life, rather than a moment in time when a catastrophic disaster occurs.”
The Mayor’s Month of Concern for the Hungry event has been in swing since 2009. It’s part of the larger Eastside community event, Eastside’s Month of Concern for the Hungry, where communities around the Eastside and local volunteers kick off September with a month-long food drive, which began Sept. 12.
Donations from the QFC stores in Sammamish and Klahanie went to the Issaquah Food and Clothing Bank. The Issaquah food bank, which collected donations Sept. 12 from five locations, raised 8,674 pounds of food and $1,252 by the end of the day. Of that, the Sammamish and Klahanie store contributed 2,424 pounds of food.
Food bank Executive Director Cori Walters said this was definitely more than past years. She said the food bank looks forward to this drive.
“Until the food drive, our shelves are pretty lean and options are very limited,” she said.
She attributes the amount raised to good weather, an upcoming Seahawks game — which means people are at the store stocking up on game day supplies — and a large pool of volunteers.
Clash donated at one of three stores in Sammamish and Klahanie that volunteers manned Saturday. Volunteers will be out again collecting donations Sept. 19 and Sept. 26 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
They will be outside of Safeway in the Sammamish Highlands shopping center, the QFC in Klahanie and the Issaquah-Pine Lake QFC.
Food and cash collected at the Sammamish Safeway go toward Hopelink, the Redmond food bank.
In two-hour shifts, members of the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints were out Sept. 12, as part of their Day of Service project.
Brad Blackhurst, who coordinated the efforts for the Union Hill Ward, estimated about 50 of the 60 volunteers Sept. 12 were from the church.
“We all joined hands and helped out,” Blackhurst said.
Sammamish Mayor Tom Vance said this effort food drive is a great way for people to donate.
“It makes it easy because you’re right there at the grocery store,” he said. “People get into the spirit of it.”
Vance will be popping in and out of the three participating stores Sept. 19 and will be volunteering at one location Sept. 26.
He’s been participating in the food drive for the last eight years.
