City Council Members Collect 1,800 Pounds of Donated Food

Members of the Redmond City Council spent part of last weekend collecting donated food items for and other local charities as part of the Eastside Month of Concern for the Hungry.

Local shoppers donated a total of 1,800 pounds of food at Redmond grocery stores while the council members were stationed outside. Gerald Wright, a senior manager for Hopelink, thanked the council for its efforts at Tuesday's city council meeting.

"We're really proud to have your support and have you as partners," Wright said.

The 1,800 pounds of donated food is equivelant to what's needed to provide three meals a day to a family of four for six months, Wright said.

Council member John Stilin said he was impressed by the generosity of those who made donations. Several shoppers, he said, came out of the store with just a few items for themselves and full bags of groceries for the food drive.

"There were just a lot of great acts of kindness like that throughout the day," Stilin said.

Saturday is the final day of the month-long effort, which began on Sept. 24 and has included the Eastside cities of Bellevue, Kirkland, Issaquah, Mercer Island, North Bend, Redmond and Sammamish. Volunteers will be collecting food from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday in Redmond at the , the and .

In total, the drive has brought in 64,000 pounds of food and nearly $10,000 in cash donations so far.