Downtown Moscow resembled a B movie horror set on Sunday evening, as more than 200 people dressed as zombies and wandered the streets.

The "zombies" were participating in a local charity event created to collect donations for the Palouse Humane Society and the Idaho Food Bank.

The Zombie Walk accumulated 377 pounds of food for the food bank, and a few items were donated to the humane society, said Sarah Stovall, an event organizer.

“The turnout was a lot more than I expected,” she said. “I was nervous and didn’t think people would come, but when the first 20 zombies walked around the corner, I was so happy I started to bawl – then people kept showing up.” Stovall decided to plan the event after she turned to the food bank for help after an accident last year, she said. The accident left her in a back and neck brace, preventing her from working.

The hard economic times paired with the upcoming holiday season have created a huge need right now for nonprofit organizations like the food bank and humane society, Stovall said. “Local businesses and the community really helped me with this event, but I developed and promoted it by myself,” she said. Participants found the event via several channels.

“I found out about the event through MySpace,” zombie participant Tiffany Norton said.

Norton and her friends arrived at the event fully clad in zombie attire and spent around five hours working on their costumes, she said. Participants gathered on Friendship Square at 7 p.m., where donations were dropped off. Half an hour later, the walk began with zombies roaming Main Street and Friendship Square until about 8:30 p.m. “I definitely plan on doing this again next year, but it will be a lot more organized and put together,” Stovall said. Next year, rather than a zombie walk, Stovall said she might put together a fair for all of the nonprofit organizations in the community. The 377 pounds of food collected will make about 314 meals that can be distributed to the 32 agencies in Idaho that receive food from the Idaho Food Bank, said Chuck Whitman, the food bank’s director of Northern Idaho services.

“I would really hope to be a part of this again next year,” Whitman said. “It was a really successful event."

The Idaho Food Bank distributed 5.6 million pounds of food last fiscal year, and it runs events throughout the year to gather food donations, Whitman said.

“A good way for people to help out is by giving their time by doing things like repacking the food or volunteering for Meals on Wheels during the holidays,” Whitman said. One of the food bank’s next events is the Fall Fling Dance on Nov. 7 at the Moose Lodge in Clarkston. The event will feature the band The Senders. Tickets will cost $15, and all proceeds will be donated to the Backpacks for Kids weekend food program.