WILKES-BARRE — A unique food drive was held Saturday afternoon in Kirby Park, where community members with a common interest gathered to socialize and exercise.
The common interest they share is the free mobile game “Pokémon Go,” which uses real-world locations to encourage people to explore their surroundings. The “Pokémon Go” players who came together on Saturday were encouraged to donate food items, and, in return, they’d have a chance to win raffle prizes.
Saturday was also the first day of the global Pokémon Go Wild Area event.
“To get tickets for our raffle prizes, we had everybody donate food,” said Robbie Banyas, who organized the event.
Banyas and a few friends helped revive the local “Pokémon Go” community, which had gone dormant for some time following the game’s initial release in 2016, within the past year or so. The group of local players she has connected with through the game numbers in the hundreds.
“There are a lot more people who play [‘Pokemon Go’] than you would think,” Banyas said. ”We have people from all walks of life, people of all ages.”
While the Pokémon franchise may appear childish to some, Banyas said that the stakes of Saturday’s event were serious. It all came together under the weight of the federal government shutdown, which lasted 43 days before finally concluding on Wednesday. The tail end of the shutdown coincided with a pause in the distribution of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
Banyas said that although the members of her group became fans of Pokémon as kids, their continued interest has allowed them to make a real difference as adults.
“Now we’re all adults, and we can actually use this thing we love to give back to the community around us,” Banyas said.
The food drive, hosted by the “Pokémon Go” group, will continue on Sunday. Banyas said they will be based under the pavilion from about 10 a.m. until dusk.