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Pepper Fisher

PORT ANGELES – With last week’s news that the Port Angeles Fire Department would not be conducting Operation Candy Cane this year because of Covid concerns, a local business has decided to step up and carry on the decades-long tradition in December.

PNW Mobile Detailing is partnering with the Port Angeles YMCA to collect donations for the Food Bank using the same model that has worked so well for the fire department over the years, and will follow the same neighborhood street routes over a period of 6 days from December 14-19.

Owner Katheryn Murray says the idea hit her when she saw how many people were disappointed at the news from the fire department.

“I’d seen a lot of people were upset about it. So yeah, I think altogether that we can make it a safe event. We have a 1999 Chevy Suburban that we will be decorating, shooting for lots of lights and some blow-up decorations on the top. And then the YMCA of Port Angeles, they will be providing Christmas carolers and a Santa Claus. They’ll be trailing behind us in a vehicle. So, I mean, this is just the start. I came up with this yesterday and this is how it’s evolved already.”

Murray says everyone will be masked up, and they’re asking neighborhood folks to do the same when they come by for food donations.

They’ll try to stick to the same route and nightly schedule as first responders used last year, and the map has already been posted on their PNW Mobile Detailing Facebook page. Murray says the YMCA will also be posting more information on their website.

“We’re a small mom-and-pop business and we’re trying to just be a part of our community. We have children, and we want to teach our children as well, that it’s part of helping others, rather than, you know, than always looking for help or, you know, just being a part of something greater than ourselves.”