Food Bank Challenge comes at critical time
Published 3:54 pm Sunday, November 16, 2025
SOUTH PACIFIC COUNTY — An initiative that’s helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for three local food banks over the past six years is back for the holiday season, and it couldn’t come at a more crucial time.
The 2025 Food Bank Challenge, put on by the Loren H. Corder Foundation, kicks off Nov. 19 and runs through Dec. 19. During the yearly challenges, the foundation matches cash donations to the Ocean Park, Ilwaco and Chinook food banks over this month-long stretch up to a certain amount; the food banks each received $14,000 from the foundation in 2024, on top of the $92,000 that was donated by the community during the challenge for a total of $134,000.
In all, the challenge has raised about $670,000 for the food banks in just six years — $430,000 via community donations, and another $240,000 in matching funds from the foundation. The Corder Foundation, founded in 1988 following the death of its remarkable namesake, provides grants and donations to causes in the south county area that directly benefit seniors.
Checks can be mailed to PO Box 907 in Ocean Park (zip code 98640) for the Ocean Park Food Bank, PO Box 494 in Ilwaco (98624) for the Ilwaco Food Bank, and PO Box 243 in Chinook (98614) for the Chinook Food Bank.
Rise in demand
This year’s challenge comes on the heels of a challenging period for both the food banks and local families regarding the distribution of SNAP funding during the weeks-long federal government shutdown that began Oct. 1 and came to an end last week.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimated that 16% of households in Pacific County received SNAP benefits as of 2023, and food bank officials believe that the percentage of local families that are SNAP-eligible — but don’t receive benefits, for whatever reason — is likely much higher.
At a kickoff meeting for the challenge held Nov. 12 with Chuck Mikkola, the foundation’s treasurer, food bank leaders said they’d seen a spike in demand in recent weeks that they attributed to the uncertainty about whether the federal government would distribute funding to the states, which administer the SNAP program.
Vera Karnofski, board president of Friends of Chinook School, which oversees the Chinook Food Bank, said their food bank had seen a recent rise in demand.
Charlotte Paliani, secretary/treasurer of the Ocean Park Food Bank, said about 50 people visited the food bank during a recent Friday shift she worked — roughly double the 25 to 30 clients that the food bank usually serves on Fridays.
“People are waiting a half-hour to get waited on” due to the increased demand, Paliani said.
As it is, both Paliani and Rachel Gana, director of the St. Vincent de Paul Food Bank in Ilwaco, said November and December are the two busiest months for their food banks in terms of demand. The food banks go the extra mile during the holidays, whether it’s providing special items and ingredients for a Thanksgiving dinner or supplying clients with a voucher to purchase a holiday meal offered by peninsula grocery stores.
The support that the food banks have received from the community in recent weeks has been “absolutely phenomenal,” Paliani added. “They really reacted to [the potential loss of SNAP benefits]: money came in, food came in. We’re small, physically, so I have a big shed and we wound up actually putting food in my shed because we didn’t have any room to put it.”
While food donations are always appreciated, Mikkola emphasized that cash donations allow the food banks to both stock its shelves with food from local stores while also supporting ancillary costs that come with running a food bank such as utilities, insurance, maintenance and rent.
Food bank leaders said they have been continuously amazed by the support that they’ve received from both the community and the Corder Foundation during the first six years of the challenge. The combination of donations plus matching funds from the foundation means each food bank has received at least $150,000 in grassroots support since 2019.
The Chinook Food Bank is currently open on the first and third Thursdays of the month, from 1-3 p.m. The Ocean Park Food Bank is open every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. with extended Wednesday hours from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Ilwaco Food Bank is open every Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“Every donation will count, large or small; it’s our community and it’s a once-a-year event that will help those in need and make a difference,” said Mikkola.
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