Council Collected 15,000 Pounds of Food for Scouting for Food

The holiday season is a time of giving and Scouts are ramping up their community efforts in a tremendous way. For example, troops from Lincoln County are participating in Scouting for Food and they collected an amazing 15,000 pounds of food! Keep reading to learn what the Scouts’ service means to the community.

“This is the largest service project that Scouting does in the United States,” Piedmont Council district executive Adam McCarrison shared with Lincoln Times-News . “It’s been done here in Lincoln County for probably as long as Scouting has been around, which is since the 1920s. It’s a huge a factor in helping out all of the local food pantries and nonprofit organizations that need support and help during the holiday season. The food that we collect not only helps families locally here in the county during Thanksgiving, but it also helps replenish the pantry supplies for the Christmas season as well.”

Scouting for Food is an annual food collection drive run by local councils that benefits thousands of communities across the nation. The Scouting for Food program is among many local initiatives rooted in serving others and the desire for Scouts to “do a good turn daily.”

“The food drive allows us to continue our daily give out to the community while we ramp up for Christmas,” Christian Ministry of Lincoln County executive director Mitzi Williams said. “Without that it would be really hard because they bring in a lot of food for us. Their efforts allow us to continue our daily give out to the families in the community who are in need right now, while also collecting food for our Christmas giveaway at the end of December. It’s a definite blessing to the ministry that the boy scouts do this and that the public takes part in this food drive.”

Councils set their own dates for Scouting for Food. Typically, councils hold their drives on back-to-back weekends some time between November and March. That means some councils might begin around November or December for the holidays, while other councils might choose January, February or March for their program. Check with your local council to find out when your local Scouting for Food program begins.

“This all goes back to the ideals and the morals that we teach the boys and the adults that work with them,” McCarrison said. “It’s all about giving back to the community and providing leadership opportunities for these boys. They not only gain an appreciation for what they do in the community and who they represent, but it also gives them an opportunity to see what the situation is in the current world and how they can help kind of change the local dynamics of the population. A lot of these boys don’t really get to see the issues impacting the community, but this food drive allows them to see a wide array of the families who benefit from it.”

To learn more about this council’s successful Scout for Food efforts, check out the full story from Lincoln Times-News. Does your troop participate in Scouting for Food? Share your stories with us in the comments below!