Because of the trick or treat efforts of the Astoria/Warrenton/Seaside KOA Campground in Hammond and the Astoria High School, feeding hungry children will be a little bit easier this winter.

The KOA Campgrounds Haunted House included a walk through Draculas Castle. Visitors also enjoyed animated childrens movies, popcorn, cookies and other refreshments. Weeks of preparation went into this event to raise money for KOA Care Camps and collect food for the Clatsop Community Action Regional Food Bank Network in Clatsop County.

This is our staffs way of giving back to the community in which we live, said Debbie Sheldon, KOA assistant manager. The event allows our staff to have fun, collect food and raise money for our favorite charities. Weve doubled the amount of food collected each year for the past five years. In 2013, we hope to do the same. 

The Trick-or-Treat so Kids Can Eat food drive was founded by the student clubs of AHS. This year a challenge was offered to all local high schools, but only AHS participated, earning the school this years Golden Pumpkin Award, a traveling trophy to be displayed at ASH until next year.

I thought it was a pretty good amount of food that the girls soccer team and Key Club brought in, being that they only had a few hours to collect the food, said Jon Williams, student coordinator for the event. We are definitely planning on doing a can drive competition for Thanksgiving or Christmas; as a school we want to help give back to the community in any way we can.

Marlin Martin, director for the CCA Regional Food Bank, reported the two organizations have collected 21,199 pounds of food for distribution to hungry families in Clatsop County over the past four years.