Fighting Hunger: LW Students Fill Trucks With Hopelink Holiday Donations

Lake Washington High students filled two trucks with food and household items they collected this month for Hopelink’s holiday drive - along with $4,000 raised by the Kirkland school's Loyalty Club.

The goal was to beat last year’s record of collecting 12,000 pounds for Hopelink, a major service agency for Eastside families in need that operates a center in Kirkland. Although Hopelink doesn’t weigh the donations immediately, teachers Lindsay Roger and Nicole Massey believe they made that goal.

Kris Betker, Hopelink spokeswoman, said the food will help families who need it through the holidays and beyond.

"The value of a huge contribution like this is that it will go into January to help families trying to put food on the table," she said. "The holidays and directly after is probably the toughest time of the year for those families. So it's phenomenal. It's amazing."

A total of 19 pallets were filled with the donations, last Friday and earlier this week. In early November, Loyalty Club members organized shifts at local stores to gather contributions from the community.