If you like holiday lights and helping the hungry, Lake Wilderness Country Club is the place to be tomorrow night.

More than 150 brightly decorated homes will be on display for the benefit of Maple Valley Food Bank. Sightseers can drive or walk the neighborhood’s streets and, organizers hope, donate as many non-perishable food items and as much money as they can to help the food bank that serves the Maple Valley, Covington, Black Diamond, Hobart and Ravensdale areas.

“It’s not just about the glitter. It’s about helping those less fortunate,” said Joanni Scott, one of the residents who’s helping coordinate the drive’s comeback.

According to some of the homeowners with long memories, the event started about 20 years ago, largely on the shoulders of Pat and Dick Jennings and Glenn and Janice Aust. Pat and Janice are sisters. After being an annual big boost to the food bank for many years, interest in it lagged or it didn’t happen at all, resulting in fewer donations. But it’s back, said Scott, who’s working with Jeff Asch and others on getting it “resurrected.”

She said homeowners “see it as a really good reason for spending time in the rain, cold and wind to decorate their homes. As a community, we find it brings us a bit closer to the real meaning of Christmas.”

For the food bank, the event can help meet a rising demand for help from those affected by the struggling economy. Food that’s donated will go on the food bank shelves for distribution to the needy. Donations of money will be used to buy food and children’s Christmas gifts. And speaking of the latter, unwrapped gifts for kids up to 15 years old can be donated, too.

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