Highlighting Food Security

As the cooler weather of fall sets into the Yakima Valley and across our country, the need to fortify the stockrooms of our food banks with basic necessities grows rapidly.

Recently, a team from Wilkinson worked with more than 40 volunteers from the Yakima Rotary clubs on their annual food drive, Operation Harvest, which supports eight area food banks. Team members David McKinney, Russ Wilkinson, and Riley Wilkinson—all Rotarians—along with Taylor Hall, volunteered to blanket neighborhoods door-to-door with paper grocery sacks including food drive messaging, installed signs, collected donations, and sorted deliveries at the collection site.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the community, Quinn Dalan, co-chair of Operation Harvest and Executive Director of Yakima Volunteer Attorney Services, said the need for food donation remains high as winter approaches.

“Last year we collected 73,000 pounds, and I’m happy to see we exceeded that number,” she added. “The need is still high. We’re still suffering from the long-lasting impacts of the pandemic. Nobody should go hungry; no child should go hungry, and this is a great way for our community to meet those needs.”

Across our 16 apartment home communities in Georgia, Texas, Indiana, and Washington state, teams will be engaging residents and collecting donations of non-perishable goods in a friendly competition with one another. Locally, our team will continue our outreach to, and support of, local agencies whose work is focused on addressing food security, youth and family homelessness, domestic violence, and quality education. We encourage you to join us in contributing to the local food banks in your area during this critical time.