Plano Boy Scouts were busy last Saturday, spending the gorgeous day helping those in need through their annual Scouting for Food drive. The food drive, which takes place over two consecutive weekends, involved boy scouts armed with yellow plastic food donation bags, walking through neighborhoods door-to-door and requesting donations. The scouts divided up the labor, with some troops collecting food and others working to sort it and load it into food pantries. The food collection efforts began the weekend of February 8 and the scouts completed their food drive efforts this past weekend.
The food drive represents one of the largest single-day food collection efforts in the nation, with more than 30,000 scouts across the local council (Circle Ten) participating. Since 1988, local Boy Scouts have collected 9.8 million cans of food through the Scouting for Food drive. The scouts then bring the food to more than 45 assistance agencies throughout the area.
Boy Scout Troop 1000 volunteered at the Plano Food Pantry where they unloaded hundreds of yellow bags of donated canned goods. Boys of all ages worked side by side, piling shopping carts high with bags full of food and sorting the food by category.
This food drive functions as the biggest single source of food for the Plano Food Pantry. “We’re very grateful and we look forward to it each year,” says Plano Food Pantry Volunteer Director Sharon Macduff. The Pantry receives referral families from the Collin County Assistance Center, and anyone living within Plano I.S.D. is eligible to apply through the Assistance Center for food. The Pantry feeds between 40 and 50 families each week, with each family receiving a week’s supply of food.
While inventory from the Scouting for Food drive keeps the Plano Food Pantry well stocked for several months, Macduff says the Pantry- a 100% volunteer operated organization- is always in need of additional volunteers to sort food and fill orders. “I thank these Scouts so much,” Macduff says, “Now our job is to get the food to the people.”
For more information, contact:
Plano Food Pantry
http://www.holynativity.org/outreach/the-food-pantry/
214-704-5689
972-424-4574
Collin County Assistance Center
http://www.assistancecenter.org/
972-422-1850