Boy Scouts Food Drive Benefits Local Food Banks for Thanksgiving

Many food banks around the country received an extra hand from Boy Scout troops to fill their cupboards for Thanksgiving Day.

Through the Boy Scouts’ “Scouting for Food” drives, troops collected thousands of pounds of food to donate to local food banks.

Fourteen Cub Scout Packs and Boy Scout troops in Victoria and Goliad counties in Texas collected 15,650 pounds of food, an over 4,000-pound increase over 2003, for the Community Food Bank of Victoria on Saturday, reported The Victoria Advocate.

The Piedmont Council of the Boy Scouts of America in North Carolina collected more than 11 tons of canned goods during their two-week food drive, according to The Hickory Record. Forty Cub Scout packs and Boy Scout troops delivered the food to Cooperative Christian Ministry of Greater Hickory and to Easter Catawba Cooperative Ministry in Newton.

Mark Hackley, public relations officer for the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank in Virginia, suggested the donations to the food bank from the Boy Scouts food drive were important this year since across the country, donations to food banks have slowed because of the economic downturn, reported The Winchester Star.