The Auburn Food Bank, along with 10 other food bank agencies in South King County, has joined Northwest Harvest, the LDS Cannery in Kent and Rotary First Harvest to create “Yes, we CAN!”, a community canning project.

“Yes, we CAN!” is an opportunity for volunteers to improve the food security situation of children and families in need.

Thousands of pounds of nutritious vegetables that would otherwise perish or sit in freezers for months are preserved in shelf-stable cans and distributed to those in need. The produce is cut, frozen, cooked and canned and then delivered to food banks in South King County.

In just 10 days last fall, volunteers canned about 15,000 pounds of vegetables, food bank officials said.

“So many of our clients have small freezer spaces or no freezer at all. Canning the fresh vegetables makes a lot of sense,” said Debbie Christian, Auburn Food Bank executive director. “This is a great, large group project. You can have 20-50 people in a group – and in a span of eight hours – have canned enough for each client family to have two more cans of food that wouldn’t have been available otherwise.

“The best part is seeing the project from start to finish in just one day – from sorting the frozen vegetables, thawing them out, then packing them in the cans, steaming, cooking, drying and labeling then palletizing to be distributed to people in need,” Christian said. “With your help, cans are on the shelf at the food bank by the end of the month.”

Christian urges groups to organize and donate time to the cause. Efforts will directly benefit families served by the Auburn Food Bank.

Volunteers are currently being scheduled for Feb. 10, 11, 17 and 18. Shifts are 9 a.m.-1 p.m. and 12:30-4:30 p.m.

The LDS cannery is located in Kent on the West Valley Highway. Contact the project’s volunteer coordinator, Basil Weiner, for more details or to schedule a shift at 206-579-6886 or southking@firstharvest.org or contact Christian at 253-833-8925 or debbiec@theauburnfoodbank.org.