Thousands of Boy Scouts running door-to-door food drive to benefit local pantries

Local Boy Scouts will be running their annual food drive over the next two Saturdays, leaving door hangers with directions one week and returning for pickup the following week.

On Saturday, Nov. 4, over 6,000 Scouts from Boy Scouts of America will distribute door hangers to let their neighbors know about the drive. On Nov. 11, the Scouts will return to the same houses to pick up bags full of non-perishable food items and deliver them directly to food pantries and soup kitchens within Carbon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Monroe and Northampton counties.

According to Mike Borgman, senior district executive for the Minsi Trails Council, "Scouting for Food" is an annual community service project that started in 1985 and has grown to be one of the largest one-day food collection events in the country. He said over 40% of the food collected goes to feeding younger children, under 10 years of age. "Our Scouts are kids feeding other kids."

"The Scouts will start out at 8 a.m. on both Saturdays," said Borgman. "When they come back on the pickup day, they look to see if anyone put out bags of food as a donation. Once it is all collected, they deliver to the local food banks that they work with each year."

Borgman said the local food banks have come to count on the Scouts to bring them food every year. "It's becoming more and more prevalent that they need us, and this year more than ever, our local food pantries are seeing huge increases in adults and children desperate for food."

For collection day on Nov. 11, food should be placed in bags with the door hanger tags attached, where they can easily be seen from the street by 8 a.m. for pickup by the Scouts.

The only donations accepted are non-perishable foods, such as canned foods and dry goods, and paper products, baby formula and other pantry items.

"People have even been known to leave packages of diapers," said Borgman. "We just ask that they do not leave glass jars or expired food."

Borgman said if your house is missed or you would like to donate, you can visit scouting4food.com for a drop-off location.

Maria Francis covers K-12 education and real estate, housing and development for the Pocono Record. Reach her at mfrancis@poconorecord.com.

This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Scouts running door-to-door food drive in Minsi Trails Council area