|
Pack 33 collected more than 1,800 cans of food
for this year's Scouting for Food effort, a huge increase of 500 cans over last
year and a new Pack 33 high! Even more impressive, we had about the same
number of Scouts, approximately 35 Scouts (40% of the Pack),
participating as last year meaning on average each participating Scout collected almost
40% more than last year!
Altogether, 90 units in the Westchester-Putnam Council
collected over 15,000 cans of food. That's a lot of food for
people who need it. Pack 33 was just one of the 90 units, but we collected
more than 10% of the food! All our
Scouts who participated deserve serious congratulations for such an impressive
effort. Kudos also go to Matthew Crandall and Bill
Quinn, who coordinated this year's effort.
|
The Westchester-Putnam Council of Boy Scouts is once again mobilizing its 10,000+ youth members to address hunger in Westchester & Putnam Counties. Scouts will be helping kids and families through the annual "Scouting For Food Canned Food Drive - Good Turn Project."
The campaign will involve a door-to-door food collection effort by Cub and Boy
Scouts, Commerce Bank and Food Bank of Westchester and Putnam C.A.P. (Community
Action Program).
What is the Need?
Hunger hurts. Approximately 200,000 families are now served by food
pantries, soup kitchens and shelters in Westchester County alone. Hunger strikes
all ages. The elderly, the disabled, the homeless, the unemployed, women and
children all need food. In fact, approximately 1/3 of the recipients of this
food are children. Many agencies rely on Food Bank and Putnam C.A.P. as their primary source
of food.
What Can We Do to Help?
A great deal. Any canned food in good condition will be welcome. However,
specific foods are preferable for their nutritional value. These preferred goods
include canned meat, stews and tuna, chunky-type soups, baby
formula, and any complete canned meals. Health laws prohibit
collection of home-canned, home-packaged goods or foods with broken seals.
Perishables like milk cannot be collected.
As Scouts, we have a duty to not only do a good turn daily, but
to help other people at all times. We have partnered with the Food Bank of
Westchester, and Putnam C.A.P. to do our part to ensure
that no child goes to bed at night hungry.
Scouts throughout Westchester-Putnam counties will collect canned food items and deliver them on
October 25 to a local Commerce Bank for pickup by Food Bank and Putnam C.A.P., which will insure that the donated food items will be given to needy
families. Prior year's efforts yielded over
19,000 pounds of food! Pack 33 collected over 1,300 cans and was the highest
collecting unit (Cub Scout, Boy Scout or Venturer!) in the entire
Westchester-Putnam Council! Given our greater numbers this year, we should
be able to
exceed that amount.
What Should I Do?
For Pack 33, bags were distributed at the October Pack meeting
and can also be picked up at Matthew Crandall's house (along with a Raingutter
Regatta kit in the bag) at 76 Chatsworth Avenue - take one bag
(with 9 bags packed inside) from the box on his porch. Scouts should
visit at least 10 neighbors to ask for food and/or leave a bag during the week of
October 18-24, pick up the food by the end of the week, and
then drop off their bags Saturday, October 25 at
CommerceBank, 107 Chatsworth Avenue (across from the
Larchmont Tavern), between 10am and 1 pm. We will be keeping a tally
sheet there for all Pack 33 scouts to record the number of cans they collected,
so we can recognize our top-collecting Scouts and dens and give out prizes at
the next Pack meeting, so make sure to enter your Scout's info. If you drop
off at another CommerceBank location or fail to enter your info on the tally
sheet, you must email the number of cans your Scout collected to Matthew
Crandall at crandall@dlife.com -
otherwise, your Scout will not be recognized.
Scouts should wear their uniforms when out collecting and dropping off, and should be accompanied by an adult as necessary. In addition to doing a good turn and helping people in need, participating scouts will receive an award patch, so
make sure to count and report how many items of food you collected when you drop
off your bags.
Also as we did last year we will have prizes
for those who collect the most items, dens with the highest participation, etc!
We need volunteers to help staff the collection site on October 25th.
If you can spare 30 minutes or an hour to help out, please contact Matthew
Crandall at crandall@dlife.com or 917-374-2076.
|
