This is a great time of year – and it brings back a whole bunch of fun family memories.  It’s Walla Walla Association of Realtors Care & Share Food Drive time!  Each year the Walla Walla Association of Realtors organizes the largest food drive of the year for the Walla Walla Valley.  Blue Mountain Action Council is the recipient of the labors of our local realtors and other community partners.  I am proud each year as we hear the numbers and amounts that are collected for our friends in need.  This year is fun as our grandchildren are going to help us take out and pick up the food – another generation of our family joining in.  We have always made this weekend a family affair.  Our kids would all help – and they would grab their friends who would come along.  We would make it a fun event with snacks for the kids, play their favorite music in the cars as we drove along the city streets, and usually would end with a pizza party at our home.  I think about those times with great appreciation and fond memories.  I have kids flushed faces from racing up and down the streets with orange bags flashing across my memory even as I write this.  It’s hard to believe all of our kids are in their twenties and thirties now. Some are married, some live in town, some don’t.  But when we chat with them and share about what weekend it is – they all share their memories and fondness for this event. It built compassion and empathy in our kids’ hearts as they thought about those that didn’t have the food that they needed.  We took the time during the food drive to talk about the fact that food is a struggle for some families.  I know that had an impact on our kids – and I hope that they always have a heart for those less fortunate.  I also hope that anyone in our community that wants to donate does so.  We have a bin at our office for donations, the grocery stores have bins in front of them, the orange bags go out this weekend and will be picked up starting around noon on Sunday.  Local restaurants have table tents with QR codes so that you can even donate from the table as you are enjoying a meal at one of our fabulous local establishments.  There is a large need in our community.  We all need to help – and this is a great way to do so!  Let’s go Walla Walla – and let’s make this the best year yet!  I know we can do it…