Walk & Knock becomes Drive & Drop

After 40 years, the food drive Walk & Knock is changing its name and ending porch pickups of donations.

The nonprofit — now known as Drive & Drop — has organized a one-day drive in Clark County on the first Saturday of each December since 1985 to collect food and toiletry donations for the Clark County Food Bank.

In the past 10 years, the number of volunteers has decreased from 4,000 to fewer than 2,000 last year, said Tom Knappenberger, Walk & Knock’s past president. This year, the nonprofit is anticipating 400 to 500 volunteers.

“For whatever reasons, the number of volunteers has been dropping year after year after year, and so we just can’t promise we’re going to get to every porch and pick up every bag,” Knappenberger said.

Instead, the nonprofit will open 16 drop sites throughout Clark County from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 6.

Donations also will be taken Dec. 1 to Dec. 15 at local McDonald’s, Riverview Bank branches, Les Schwab Tire Centers and Cost Less Auto Parts. (Find a list at walkandknock.org/drop-locations.)

Drive & Drop Vice President Reese Carpenter has taken to social media to raise awareness about the food drive and recruit more volunteers.

Drive & Drop will place 300 yard signs across the county to remind people of the event, Carpenter said.

“Despite 41 years, some people don’t even understand what Clark County Food Bank does,” Carpenter said.

Need remains high

Volunteers may be lacking, but the food bank’s need for donations remains, Knappenberger said.

According to the Clark County Food Bank, 1 in 4 people are food insecure. Over the past 40 years, the drive has collected 9.7 million pounds of food valued at $17.6 million and has provided over 11.6 million meals.

Emily Rogers: 360-735-4517; [email protected]