Typically, Potholes Bass Club donates $1,000 to Washington food banks every year. But with COVID-19 restricting tournaments and fundraisers, it wasn’t able to generate nearly as much income, so it decided to donate $10,000 instead.

Club secretary Roxanne Jerentowski gave the Moses Lake Food Bank a $2,000 check in December on behalf of the Potholes Bass Club — the second one in 2020. In April, the club split an $8,000 donation across food banks in Moses Lake, Quincy, Warden and Ephrata.

And when the club learned the Moses Lake Food Bank services almost every county in Eastern Washington, it was inspired to donate again.

“It’s a great enterprise, great volunteers,” Jerentowski said. “But it needs a lot of support, of course, especially this time of year.”

Founded in 1976, the Potholes Bass Club is the oldest continuous bass club in the state, she said. Part of the club’s mission is to raise money for charitable giving. Because of COVID-19 concerns, members saw a higher need for donations, especially food.

Every year, the club hosts seven tournaments with a barbecue and a food drive, Jerentowski said. With tournaments limited, donations were scarce. So, the club figured money would be valuable.

The club feels a moral obligation to help the community, Jerentowski said. With so many people suffering and many not qualifying for stimulus checks or unemployment benefits, club members wanted to help meet the need.

She is hopeful to start back on the normal tournament schedule in 2021.

“It’s not a big money tournament,” she said. “We try to make family and ecology and community as part of our mission.”

Sam Fletcher can be reached at [email protected].