AmeriCorps collects almost 300 pounds of food

MARYSVILLE — AmeriCorps VISTA’s collection drive for the Marysville Community Food Bank Oct. 25, took a lot less time than they expected but the volunteers still dropped off a sizable haul to the food bank that day.

“We were expecting to be done by noon, but we’d actually finished by 10 a.m.,” said Annie Snodgrass, with AmeriCorps VISTA at Quil Ceda Elementary, who was one of a dozen volunteers who began collecting bags of food from as many as 40 homes in Marysville, starting at 8 a.m.

Snodgrass estimated that volunteers collected more than 600 food items, weighing nearly 300 pounds, after dropping off donation bags on the doorsteps of Marysville neighborhoods Oct. 18.

“The houses that participated really filled their bags,” Snodgrass said. “One person went to Costco and bought big packs of food to donate. There’s a lot going on at the food bank, so it’s neat that the community can be a part of it. Events like this are great advertising for the food bank because they let people know there’s a need.”

Snodgrass and her fellow volunteers stayed at the food bank until 11 a.m. to help sort and put away the food items that they’d collected.

Joyce Ziegen, director of the Marysville Community Food Bank, praised the AmeriCorps VISTA volunteers for giving the food bank “a great kickoff” to lead into this year’s Operation Marysville Community Christmas.

Starting Nov. 1, OMCC will be setting up Saturday collection sites at Fred Meyer, Kmart, Target, Costco, Best Buy, Ross, Kohl’s, Wal-Mart, Grocery Outlet, Safeway, Thriftway and Albertsons.

“Over the holidays especially, we’re distributing 60,000 pounds of food a month, so even with these donations we’re still purchasing a lot,” Ziegen said. “The need is great. You can drop off food items at the red barrels or donate money so that we can make bulk purchases of food. This month, we received donations of $500 and $200 online, through our Web site.”

The Marysville Community Food Bank’s Web site is www.marysvillecommunityfb.com, and their phone number is 360-658-1054.

Contact Marysville Globe Reporter Kirk Boxleitner at kboxleitner@marysvilleglobe.com or 360-659-1300 Ext. 5052.

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