Scouts Help Fight Hunger with Scouting for Food

Scouting for Food takes place in communities all across the United States. Scouts who participate often go into neighborhoods to collect food items that they then distribute to local food pantries and other charitable organizations that help to fight hunger.

Though there is no official time of year for Scouting for Food efforts to take place, many Scout units participate in the effort during the period of time leading up to the holidays.

Indeed, this year, numerous news outlets around the nation have been providing updates on Scouting for Food efforts in their communities. Here are just a few of those results:

Scouts in Southborough, Massachusetts, collected food for the Southborough Food Pantry. The effort brought in more than 10,000 lbs. of food last year.

In the Blackfoot, Idaho, area, Scouts have a goal of collecting 750,000 items to feed more than 133,000 people.

The Scouts in Wellesley, Massachusetts, are looking to beat last year’s collected total of nearly 18,000 lbs. of items for the Wellesley Food Pantry.

In the Bridgewater, New Jersey, area, the Scouts have been one of the leading contributors to the local food pantries for 20 years. Because of high unemployment in the area, donations to local food pantries have declined recently, so the Scouts are hoping to help fill that gap this year.

Scout units in Pawcatuck, Connecticut, are taking part in Scouting for Food, which is the area’s largest food donation program.

In Southwest Alabama, the Scouts are collecting food to help with the annual effort to provide Thanksgiving meal boxes to area residents in need. Last year’s efforts resulted in the collection of 22,000 lbs. of food.

In New Providence, New Jersey, Scouting for Food has been taking place for more than 30 years, providing countless meals to local families.

Scouts in the Rhode Island area participating in the 29th annual Scouting for Food managed to collect 185,000 lbs. of food as part of their effort.

Thousands of Scouts in 64 counties throughout the states of Kentucky, South Indiana and North Tennessee are participating in the area Scouting for Food efforts. “It really, really helps us get out into the community and helps those that are most in need,” said Alex Hall, District Executive with the Boy Scouts and Staff Adviser for the Scouting for Food Project.

Scouts in Newport, Maine, put their own twist on their efforts with a “Camping for Food” program where they camp overnight in the parking lot of a local supermarket to collect donations. On average, the annual event nets roughly 2,000 lbs. of food.

Scouts in the suburban Philadelphia area hope to eclipse the more than 11,600 items they collected last year.

In Boise, Idaho, Scouts collected more than 133,000 lbs. of food as part of their Scouting for Food efforts.

Scouts in New Hampshire are working to exceed their previous year’s total of more than 250,000 items collected.

The Scouts in Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee collect more than 200,000 items on an annual basis and expect to continue those efforts this year. 

The Scouts in Culpeper, Virginia, regularly collect between 5,000 and 10,000 lbs. of food as part of their Scouting for Food efforts.

In Oregon, Scouts are hoping to gather more this year than last year’s 70,000 lbs. of food collected.

In St. Louis, Scouting for Food has a long, rich tradition of collecting huge amounts of food. This year, Scouts in the community distributed more than 1 million bags to local residents, and hope to collect food items in all of them when they pick up bags over the weekend.

Be sure to check with your local Boy Scouts of America council to find out when and where Scouting for Food takes place in your community. The generosity of those who donate as part of this effort really helps to make a difference in the lives of thousands of families all over the nation.

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