Operation Friendship serves area families thanks to community-wide effort

MOSES LAKE — Dozens came out Saturday to support Operation Friendship at the Moses Lake Food Bank, an annual event that puts Christmas gifts in the hands of area families in need.

“The community really comes together,” said Community Services of Moses Lake Operations Manager Peny Archer. “Because it’s not the kids' fault. No matter what’s going on or why, they want a present under their tree just like everybody else does.”

Operation Friendship is a coordinated effort between the Moses Lake chapter of the Unchained Brotherhood Motorcycle Club, the Moses Lake Food Bank, and generous members and businesses in the community.

Archer said the idea to give out toys at Christmas at the food bank, and start Operation Friendship, was to ensure local children were benefited and has been going strong for over 30 years. 

“If anything (the need is) increasing with the economics of today,” said Archer.

She explained that there are a lot of misconceptions about the people who utilize the food bank and Operation Friendship. 

“I see every uniform — they’ll come in on their lunch break — they’re working but they just don’t make enough,” Archer said.

While the need has been increasing, Archer said so has the support. She said she was shocked at how much support they received for Operation Friendship this year because of all the people facing economic struggles.

“I don’t believe I’ve ever seen, in all of the (20-plus) years I’ve been with the food bank, this many toys,” said Archer. 

This is the 20th year that the Moses Lake chapter of the Unchained Brotherhood Motorcycle Club has participated in the event. The Unchained Brotherhood Motorcycle Club is a motorcycle club whose sole purpose is to provide an atmosphere of recovery and recreation for male bikers who choose not to fight addiction alone, said Vice President of the Moses Lake chapter Dan “BigE” Curtis.

Over the past few weeks, as families utilized the food bank, they preregistered for the event. This gave shopping crews an idea of what types of toys needed to be purchased after donations were made. 

At the same time, the Moses Lake chapter of the Unchained Brotherhood Motorcycle Club hosted toy drives on the first two weekends of December in front of Planet Fitness along Stratford Road and also collected monetary donations for the shopping portion. 

“We filled the food bank truck up twice with toys that people brought in,” said Chris “Twitch” Brokke, President of the Moses Lake chapter of the Unchained Brotherhood Motorcycle Club. “And then we also had cash donations so we went shopping at Big Lots. They gave us a great discount and facilitated us shopping and we filled the truck up again.”

Combined with donations made directly to the food bank, Operation Friendship was a huge success this year.

Curtis said that another way this event has grown is that other chapters of the Unchained Brotherhood around the state have also taken on toy and food drives of their own for Christmas because of the example that Moses Lake has set.

“It’s definitely something we are very proud of club-wide and it’s our favorite thing that we do,” Curtis said. 

Brokke said that the Moses Lake chapter of the Unchained Brotherhood Motorcycle Club wanted to get involved in Operation Friendship and give back to the community because they have also been in the receiver’s shoes before.

“We’ve been on the other end of this,” said Brokke. 

“Being able to give that back is healing for all of us,” Curtis added.

During the event, volunteers and crew of the Moses Lake Food Bank take cards listing the age and gender of up to two of their children per family and fill garbage bags with up to two presents per child. Members of the Moses Lake chapter of the Unchained Brotherhood Motorcycle Club and their families would then take the bagged gifts to the families waiting in the foyer of the food bank.

Archer said they estimate they would serve around 600 families in total Saturday. 

Archer said it is a blessing that some of her volunteers who help with the event are experienced with helping year after year because they can use their learned knowledge to make the event smoother for crew and families. For example, Sandi Casebolt and her husband Dale have been supporting the event for 14 years and have come to recognize families with Ukrainian names and know which toys to select that are appropriate to that culture. They can also show new volunteers the ropes, such as first-year volunteer Sheri Deram. She said she was surprised by the scale of need in the community and has enjoyed helping with Operation Friendship and would do it again next year.

Both Archer and Brokke noted that the event was heavily supported by local individuals and businesses, namely: The Boeing Company, Simplot, Bailey and Son Construction, Bailey General Contracting, Diane and Pat Horton with Absolute Choice Electric, Dustin Swartz with J&M Electric, Big Lots, The UPS Store, Staples, along with many anonymous donors.

Any leftover toys from Saturday’s event will be distributed to families who did not register in time or could not make it to the event that day, Archer said. She said they will continue to hand them out until the last day of operations for the food bank which is Dec. 21.

“I saw a mother come in this morning, and she looked like she was ready to cry,” Archer said. “She got registered, her face was so sad, and then she sat down and they brought her a big bag of toys and she actually smiled while she left and it’s just that face that I love to see because we made it a little bit better, a little bit easier, for her.”

Rebecca Pettingill is a freelance writer and photographer based in Ephrata. 

    The Moses Lake chapter of the Unchained Brotherhood Motorcycle Club wanted to get involved in Operation Friendship 20 years ago and give back to the community because they have also been in the receiver’s shoes before. This is a healing experience for many members.
  

    Operation Friendship is a coordinated effort between the Moses Lake chapter of the Unchained Brotherhood Motorcycle Club, the Moses Lake Food Bank, and generous members and businesses in the community.