Time to harvest groceries to fill food banks in Valley

With high fuel prices and the nation’s economy in peril, Yakima Valley food banks are seeing more and more customers coming through their doors.

Saturday, community members can help restock the shelves of eight local food banks by clearing out their own kitchen cupboards and supporting Operation Harvest.

Organizers of the 26th annual communitywide food drive are asking Upper Valley residents to donate nonperishable food items by leaving them on their front porches before 9 a.m. Saturday.

About 150 volunteers, including members of Yakima’s Rotary clubs, which sponsor the food drive, will comb through neighborhoods in Moxee, Naches, Selah, Gleed, Terrace Heights, Union Gap and Yakima to collect the donations.

And just in case people forget or volunteers miss a front porch, residents can take their donations to the downtown Yakima Salvation Army parking lot on the corner of Sixth and Yakima avenues — the campaign headquarters — or any of the three Wray’s grocery stores.

Organizers hope for another record-breaking year, but worry that high fuel prices and the state of the economy might diminish donations.

“I would absolutely love to break last year’s record,” says Dusty Edler, chairman of this year’s event and a member of the Yakima Rotary Club. “The Rotary Clubs have done a great job in the past, and we’re hoping to keep going forward and provide nourishment for the Valley.

“We seem to be fighting a little harder for cash donations,” he says, adding, “Cash is equally as important as food.”

Last year marked the best ever for the campaign, which pulled in more than 127,000 pounds of food donations and more than $36,000 for local food banks, according to Edler, an agent for Almon Commercial Real Estate. He’ll be at the campaign headquarters Saturday, standing by to help with missed routes.

“With the economy being what it is and so many families in need, we’re trying to lend a helping hand to get people through the holidays,” he says.

Dale Carpenter, past chairman of the event, will be helping out again this year, too.

“People who were barely making it on what they had are now finding themselves — because they’re spending more on fuel to get to work — in food lines,” Carpenter says. “They have to get to work, so they choose fuel over food.

“The food banks are all seeing more of a crush on their storage. ... This is needed more than ever this year.”