By Susanna Ray
Herald Writer
LYNNWOOD — Despite lots of TV publicity, Brian Paulus said fewer people than normal dropped off donations during the fifth year of his one-man, round-the-clock, holiday food bank.
But he doesn’t blame them.
"There’s a lot going on," Paulus said Monday. "People are trying to hold on to their money. I know I am."
The father of three was laid off in October after seven years at a local company that makes construction equipment. But his gregarious nature and quick wit — not to mention the selfless donation of his time — belie his personal hardship.
Paulus literally camped out at a Lynnwood gas station for six days, collecting food donations for Northwest Harvest. Except for quick bathroom and shower breaks, the only time he left the truck was for two hours Thursday night to watch his kids perform in a Christmas play.
"I heard about the idea on a radio show in Detroit, and I thought, ‘I could do that.’ But then I sat on the couch for years and years," he said. When his first daughter was born, he realized that needed to change. "I thought, ‘How can I teach her how to have initiative if I have ideas and I’m still sitting on the couch?’"
He offers round-the-clock convenience to do-gooders each year to help them avoid the frustration he felt one year when he wanted to donate a bag of groceries late one night and couldn’t find an open food bank. So his wife brings him dinner each night, and he catches a few Z’s whenever he can with the help of three sleeping bags and a space heater.
And people do take advantage of the all-night donation opportunity. After two TV news programs reported about Paulus on Sunday night, donors lined up in a steady stream until 3 a.m. Monday, he said, and then he was awakened an hour later by the first drop-off of the morning.
During his annual stint as a conduit for others’ generosity, Paulus has experienced kindness on a personal level, too.
A broken chair lay in a heap under the truck’s back bumper Monday — remnants of a joke played on a TV reporter the night before that had made Paulus laugh so hard he fell over backward in his chair, splintering it to bits.
But he was able to rest his feet again in no time at all, thanks to an observant couple.
"They were such cool people. They went out and bought me another chair! After emptying their minivan with donations from a trip to Costco!" Paulus said exuberantly, showing off a pretty coffee cup and a cheerful Poinsettia plant other well wishers had brought by. "The Spaghetti Factory came down the other night with just a feast, just a feast. I dug that. The community has been really cool. Some lady brought me Jack in the Box this morning."
The ‘76 gas station where he camped out gave him free coffee and pop, he said. J&R Truck Rentals donated the truck — he just has to pay for the gas — and Cingular Wireless even gave him a cell phone to use for the week.
Paulus wasn’t sure how much food he collected, but it was a lot — enough to make the truck so heavy its floorbed sank onto the back wheels and immobilized it. Northwest Harvest came by Monday morning to lighten the load by taking away eight huge crates of food, and the truck was half full again by Monday afternoon. Paulus was under orders from his wife to "move" home for dinner by 6 p.m. Christmas Eve, and he’ll deliver the rest of the food to Northwest Harvest on Wednesday.
"I’m just glad I don’t have to sort this stuff," he said, tossing a few more bags into one crate. "Now there’s a job."
For more information about Northwest Harvest, go to www.northwestharvest.org.
You can call Herald Writer Susanna Ray at 425-339-3439 or send e-mail to
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