We would like to take this opportunity to thank Totem Lake QFC for supporting us in a food drive on Saturday for Pantry Packs. QFC and its staff were gracious, helpful and accommodating.

Pantry Packs is an organization that provides a rolling backpack for kids who otherwise would not have food over the weekends. It serves more than 250 kids in the Lake Washington School District.

We met great people and heard many stories from employees and customers about their experiences of having no or little food in their house when they were children, yet there were few organizations to step in and help.

We know it might be difficult to understand that in such a prosperous area as the Eastside we have children who go without a good meal or that their shelves are literally bare. However, these are the stories we hear from kids, families and teachers. Pantry Packs helps fill a little bit of this void.

At our food drive, some customers came out with more bags for us than they had for themselves, others gave us a can of food, and others gave us cash. Whatever it was, it was nice to be a part of! It was nice to hear the stories; it was nice to see people slow down for our kids to share what we were doing.

We were all thrilled to see what we had accomplished and a good way for us to be a part of a larger humanitarian effort! Thank you to everyone who helped make this food drive a success.

Leah Preston Ing and the Pantry Packs Committee