100,000 pounds of potatoes destined for processing now being given to public

Tri-Citians will have another chance to get free food this week.

The Washington State Potato Commission is pairing up with a local grower to hand out 100,000 pounds of potatoes on Friday.

The event comes as food banks are seeing more people come in because of the coronavirus shutdown.

A potato giveaway starts at 11 a.m. May 8 at the Three Rivers Convention Center. The potatoes were on their way to become fries, tater tots, wedges and other processed food until the shutdown closed restaurants.

“These closures and restrictions on restaurants have created a huge surplus of 1 billion pounds of unprocessed potatoes that no longer have a home,” the commission said in a news release.

Volunteers will have bags of potatoes available to load into vehicles.

The giveaway is part of a larger plan to get 1 million pounds of the 1 billion pounds of unprocessed potatoes to people in need.

Several recent food giveaways in the Tri-Cities have run out nearly immediately or even before the scheduled start time.

More than 2,200 bags of potatoes and onions ran out before the scheduled start time at a giveaway May 1 run by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Three sites gave away 750 bags provided by River Point Farms and AgriNorthwest.

This story was originally published May 5, 2020 at 1:16 PM.