When police find a meth lab, they sometimes discover more than a toxic stew of chemicals.

This year, at least 13 children were living at homes with methamphetamine labs, according to the Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force. When officers took those kids to a safe place, they couldn’t take anything along — not a teddy bear, not a toothbrush — for fear those items might be contaminated by the dangerous chemicals used to make the drug.

That’s why Operation Backpack was started.

Modeled on a Pierce County program, Operation Backpack aims to give those kids a backpack full of essentials, including clean clothing, shoes, shampoo, soap, a snack and a toy, Snohomish County Sheriff Rick Bart said.

"We wanted to find a way to comfort the kids, because it’s not their fault, and came up with the backpacks at the meth summit," Bart said.

On Wednesday, Ross and Wendy Wigney of Snohomish started the fund for the backpacks with a $500 donation and dropped off boxes and bags filled with items given by the Marysville Church of Christ.

"We’ve seen the devastation methamphetamine can cause, and we wanted to do something to help," said Ross Wigney, president of Ausclean Technologies Inc., which cleans up drug labs. "The filthy conditions, dirty diapers stacked in the corner of a kitchen, trash everywhere and kids with nothing to eat … that made a hell of an effect on me."

It’s also his way of fighting back against the drug that hooked his 23-year-old daughter, he said. The Wigneys had to rescue her son, now age 4, because she was unable to care for the boy.

"There are so many kids out there just like him," Wendy Wigney said. "It just tears us up."

The Wigneys also do presentations about methamphetamine awareness and are part of the county’s meth action team. Their son Keith, 11, suggested several items for the backpacks.

"When kids get out of there, they haven’t eaten or had clean water or brushed their teeth," he said, so he made sure the backpacks included food, a toothbrush and bottled water.

The sheriff’s office is trying to collect enough donations for 100 backpacks, Bart said. The donations are essential for children neglected by drug-addicted parents, he said.

Authorities have discovered 37 methamphetamine labs in Snohomish County homes this year, according to the drug task force.

The Wigneys are challenging other drug-lab cleanup companies to match their donation, and are encouraging others to give to the fund.

"Most things kids get up in the morning and take for granted, these kids don’t have," said Bahbe Leise, who handles children’s services for the drug task force. "This is a good start for them. … These are good kids who have been put in a bad situation."

Reporter Katherine Schiffner: 425-339-3436 or

schiffner@heraldnet.com.