Editor,

It was a cold and stormy morning. It was raining sideways. The race course was muddy and slick. But none of that stopped nine fabulous teams from coming out to the seventh annual Harvest Fest Relay Races.

Thank you to the two food bank teams, the “Pumpkin Posse” and the “Friends of Dorothy,” the Town of Coupeville “Town Spirits,” the “Lady Lions,” the Rosehip Farm’s “Rose Hypnotists,” the Greenbank Farm’s “Flight Crew,” the LDS “The Beet Goes On,” the Christ the King’s “Poncho King’s,” and last but certainly not least this year, the CHS Drama Club/Coupeville Historic Waterfront Association’s (CHWA) “Those Drama Kids.”

The teams came out in costumes with energy and enthusiasm that could not be dampened by the weather.  It was a fun day, all for the benefit of our local food bank, Gifts from the Heart.

With the help of a couple of large matching donations, these nine teams raised $28,970.30 for the food bank.

The team that raised the most money was CHWA’s Those Drama Kids. The team with the fastest course time was the Poncho King’s, and the People’s Choice Award went to the Friends of Dorothy.

An additional prize was awarded to the Rose Hypnotists for coming in second place in the fundraising category.

I would like to thank all the teams, the food bank volunteers and friends of the food bank who manned the course and worked the registration tent and the few brave spectators who came out to cheer us on.  I would like to thank Peg Tennant, the manager of the Coupeville Farmers Market, and all of the farmers and vendors who share their space with us.

I would like to thank the Whidbey Examiner, who gave the races great coverage this year, and the Coupeville Historic Waterfront Association, who helped raise the matching funds for the large donations.

Most of all, I would like to thank our community members who never cease to amaze me with the depth of their commitment to the food bank. Because of your generosity, we are able to help hundreds of families by “respectfully giving food to those in need” and assist school children with weekend food with our Meals 2 Kids program.

As we prepare for the upcoming holidays, the Gifts from the Heart volunteers want to assure you that we are truly thankful for your continued support and that we strive to be careful custodians of the funds you entrust us with.

Thank you.

Molly Hughes, president

Gifts from the Heart