Staff: Kori Kelly (Branch Manager), Sheriece Saxon (Assistant Manager), and Flora Damian (Branch Manager)
What’s better than visiting the Washington State Fair and having a hot flaky Fisher scone covered in raspberry jam? Volunteering at the fair to support the Puyallup Food Bank’s Opening Day Food Drive! The #KCUCares team Sheriece Saxon, Flora Damian, and I (Kori Kelley) came together to assist in collecting food donations for the Puyallup Food Bank on opening day. Formerly known as the Puyallup Fair, the Washington State Fair draws approximately 1.1 million visitors each year. On opening day, the fair donates free admission from 10:30AM -12:30PM to fair-goers who make a donation to the Puyallup Food Bank. This program gives people an opportunity to enjoy all the fun the fair has to offer and do some good in their own community!
We arrived at 9:30AM and the lines were already forming. By the time the gates opened at 10:30AM, the lines stretched all the way down the block! A group of volunteers gathered food donations in huge shopping carts and then transferred them into huge wooden bins. Finally, Food Bank staff forklifted the bins into a semi-truck. As shuttle buses brought-in folks from the Tacoma Mall, the South Hill Mall, and Lakewood Town Center, we worked hard to collect donations and load them into the wooden bins as people joined the lines for admission. We collected so many donations! Bins were overflowing with cereal, oatmeal, peanut butter, jelly, canned goods, and even school supplies. It was inspiring to see the community donate so many needed items to The Puyallup Food Bank! By 12:30PM we had collected so many donations that the semi-truck was full and we were organizing donations to be collected in a second trip!
After the experience Sheriece said “I really enjoyed my time at the fair, collecting donations for a great cause while working side-by-side with co-workers I don’t get a chance to interact with on a daily basis. It was rewarding to watch so many giant bins get filled up so quickly, knowing the items were going to a good cause.” Flora agreed, noting that “It’s rewarding knowing that good and caring people still exist in our crazy world.” The KCU Puyallup branches volunteer quarterly at the Puyallup Food Bank and are always happy to make such a strong contribution to their community and their members’ neighborhoods.
