About 25 vehicles loaded with bags of onions, apples and other food supplies pulled out of the Arrowhead Truck stop off Interstate 84 heading west Saturday.

At the Hermiston Elk’s Club the caravan met up with seven more trucks loaded with food and toys.

The trek was part of the 49th annual Eastern Oregon Shriners Hospital Food caravan. Starting at Ontario at 7 a.m., the group had previously stopped in Baker City and La Grande, picking up more vehicles along the way.

The food, donated by local businesses, is destined for the Portland Shriners Hospital in Portland, said Dick Crist of Pendleton, divan for Al Kader Temple. Among some of the donations were 650 pounds of ham from Hill Mean Co. and 500 pounds of flour from Pendleton Flour Mill.

The annual donations cover about 25 percent of the hospital’s annual food budget, Potentate Bud James said.

The caravan had more stops on its way to the Wilsonville Al Kader Shrine Center and would grow in number and donations at each stop.

“We’ll pick up three to four cars at every stop from here ’til The Dalles,” James said.

Wagonmaster Jay Garrett estimated the caravan would eventually consist of 40 vehicles. At Multnomah Falls, the group was joined by a police escort to guide it to the shrine.

John Smallmon of the Hermiston Desert Shrine, who serves on the board of governors of the hospital, said the caravan delivers about $100,000 in food to the hospital each year. If the Portland hospital decides it’s oversupplied – such as too many onions – it trades with other nearby hospitals for other supplies.

The Portland facility is one of 22 Shriner hospital in the country, James said.

Hermiston’s Desert Shrine contributed potatoes, carrots, apples and stuffed animals. They had collect more items than their seven vehicles could carry, so during the lunch stop at the Hermiston Elk’s Club caravan members rearranged the load.

Clyde Nobles, chairman of the Hermiston food drive, said the community was generous with its donations, both with food and financially.

He estimated that 20 to 24 children from the Hermiston area are receiving treatment from the Portland hospital on an out-patient basis.

The hospital, which provides its services for free, also assists with supplies such as crutches or wheelchairs and sometimes with money to transport children to one of the Shriners’ three burn units in the country.

—

Contact Jeannine Koranda at (800) 522-0255 (ext. 1-226 after hours) or by e-mail jkoranda@eastoregonian.com.