Turkey drive continues through Saturday
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 8 years, 4 months AGO
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald Annemarie Hermann and other Safeway employees wore Turkey Drive t-shirts as part of the annual community turkey drive.
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | November 17, 2017 2:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — Volunteers from Moses Lake health care organizations will be collecting donations of food and money for the Moses Lake Food Bank Friday and Saturday. The annual Community Turkey Drive began Thursday.
Volunteers have set up at Safeway, 601 S. Pioneer Way. They will be collecting donations from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday
It being a turkey drive, the volunteers will take donations of turkeys. But donations aren’t restricted to turkeys. Volunteers will take monetary donations, said Stephanie Melcher of Moses Lake Community Health Center. Community health volunteers were manning the tables Thursday.
Any donations by check should be made out to the Moses Lake Food Bank, Melcher said.
And to make it easy as possible for people who want to donate, there are handy-dandy donation vouchers available. People who want to donate will receive voucher cards, each worth $10, give to the cashier and pay for at the register. For donation purposes, it’s the same as a bag of nonperishable food, canned corn and green beans, beef or chicken broth, olives, cranberry sauce, and some of the trimmings that go along with Thanksgiving dinner.
In addition, “you can buy what you want and donate it as well,” Melcher said. The food bank’s truck is parked at Safeway, and people can make donations there also.
It’s the 17th year for the turkey drive, which was sponsored just by Samaritan until last year. “Samaritan wanted to open it up to the entire community” and asked some local health organizations to join, Melcher said.
“We jumped on board last year, and it was a great success.” In fact, the turkey drive brought in more money in 2016 than it had in previous years, Melcher said.
The partnering health care organizations provided sponsorships and volunteers. Samaritan employees will be volunteering to man the tables Friday, and Confluence Health-Moses Lake Clinic employees Saturday. Along with the health care organizations, the turkey drive is sponsored by Safeway, the Columbia Basin Herald, KDRM radio and Signs Now.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].
ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER
Road closures, roundabout, mean construction season underway
EPHRATA — The grass is starting to turn green, the trees are starting to leaf out, construction crews are starting to build roundabouts – hey, it’s spring. At least one roundabout project is in its final phase, held over from fall 2025. The intersection of State Route 282 and Nat Washington Way will be closed the week of April 6 to allow crews to install permanent lights. “This really is the final (closure),” wrote Grant County Administrator Tom Gaines in a media release. “The roundabout will close at 6 a.m. Monday, and we plan to reopen by Friday, possibly sooner if the work finishes early.”
Ybarra announces run for Washington Senate
QUINCY — State Representative Alex Ybarra, R-Quincy, has announced his candidacy for the Washington Senate. If he’s elected, he would replace Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, who announced her retirement in March.
Othello Community Museum to open April 25
OTHELLO — With a couple of new exhibits, a new heating-cooling system, rearranged displays and a thorough cleaning, the Othello Community Museum will open for the summer April 25. The goal, said Molly Popchock, museum board secretary, is to operate for a full season.