.::. Scouting For Food .::.
   
   
.::. Spring 2005 .::.
   
         
   
Pack 320 Home Page > Month's Events >Scouting For Food 2005
    
   
   
   
   
         
   
SCOUTING FOR FOOD 2005
    
       
         
   
April 16, 2005
    
   
   
       
    *SCOUTING FOR FOOD    
       
         
   

The Tidewater Council, for the next three years, has agreed to help collect food for the Foodbank of Southeastern Hampton Roads and for the local foodbanks of North Carolina. Despite increased food collection in 2004, the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia, still needed to collect another 9 million pounds of food to meet the need.

Our efforts last fall, our best ever in history, equaled 100,000 pounds of food and when laid end to end, would equate to 14 miles of dinner plates side by side.

In April we will conduct a major food drive to help the hungry of our area. The event culminates on April 16th, which is the day we collect the food from houses, and we are able to feed thousands and thousands of people.

Scouting for Food will be a major effort which will be done in conjunction with full media support from WVEC-13. Additionally, we will be conducting this event with the Colonial Virginia Council.

This event is part of the Good Turn America, a long range national effort to provide service to our community, which adheres to one of the long standing Scouting traditions of helping other people at all times, which ends with the 100th Anniversary of Scouting in 2010.

   
         
         
    *BACKGROUND    
       
         
    Even as great as our country is, there is hunger within our local communities. It is estimated that 1 out of 8 families go hungry each month. There are over 350 local food pantries and soup kitchens in our area that provide thousands and thousands of meals each day. In our area, some 100,000 children experience hunger during each year.

How important is the food drive? When Hurricane Isabel hit last year, it completely depleted the stocks of the food banks because they were already had ½ the minimum inventory required to keep functioning. Today, the picture is not better for our food banks as the need for food continues to increase. Our Food Drive will make the difference whether someone gets food or not, and we think that means this is an emergency situation for all of us to be concerned about.

This is unacceptable. The Tidewater Council, which is everyone, can do something about it, and therefore we have agreed to push extremely hard to gain the maximum amount of food that we could possibly get between now and April 15, 2005.		    
         
         
    *SIMPLY WHAT IS SCOUTING FOR FOOD?    
       
         
    We ask that all of our units agree to participate in the Scouting for Food effort. When we know which units are participating, then your district Scouting for Food Chairman will work with the units to cover specific geographical areas. On Saturday, April 9, or any day up to Wednesday, April 13, your unit will take the bags that are provided to you and distribute them door to door.

On April 16, between 9 and Noon, you will go door to door and collect the bags of food, bring them to a central unit site, and then the unit transports the food to central collection areas that have been arranged with the food banks.		    
         
         
    *TELL ME WHAT DO WE DO IN OUR UNIT?    
       
         
    In your unit, you will need a unit Scouting for Food chairman. This person will contact all families and inform them of the drive, how they will cover areas that are assigned, safety rules, where to bring the food, and a few extra people for areas that may have been overlooked.

For example, the food drive pick up is between 9 AM and Noon, but sometimes people will put food out at 10:30 AM when Scouts have already walked by the area. This means the food sits there until someone in your unit drives down the street and notices that a bag has been left in this manner.		    
         
         
    *DO WE REALLY NEED ALL UNITS?    
       
         
    Yes, we absolutely need every unit. We cover a vast territory not only in Virginia but in Northeastern North Carolina. We need you to help us cover your area so that we don't have to assign a neighboring unit who might become overtaxed by doing so.    
         
         
    *IS THIS REALLY FOR ALL SCOUTS?    
       
         
    Yes, new Tigers will love this event as well as our older Boy Scouts. If we could just pretend for a moment that we out there at the event on April 16. Your Scouts are going door to door, they see their first bag, their eyes will light up that people are helping them feed the hungry. People will come out and greet your Scouts and say hello and they will be glad to see you, and in fact as you go door to door, you will find people that see us in uniform and are reminded that they better get their bags out in a visible place.    
         
         
    *WHAT OTHER JOBS ARE THERE?    
       
         
    We will also be working with a limited number of locations that will need assistance, and this will be explained later on as we receive more particulars. These will be actual food stores that will need someone there to help push Scouting for food, and so we will be working as goodwill ambassadors in these particular locations.    
         
         
    *WHERE DO THE BAGS COME FROM?    
       
         
    Right now we have asked for a large supply of bags. This source hasn't been exactly identified, but we are confident that the bags will be ready to go and ahead of schedule. When we have the exact information we will communicate it with you.    
         
         
    *HOW MUCH FOOD WILL WE COLLECT?    
       
         
    Actually, if every unit says yes to participation, we will probably conduct the largest Food Drive for our area ever. Our drive can only be as successful as our individual participation. Trust us when we say, we have Scout families that will benefit as well.    
         
         
    *WHAT IS THE MEDIA EXPOSURE THAT YOU MENTIONED?    
       
         
    WVEC-13 will broadcast somewhere between 200 to 300 public service announcements starting before April 16 to generate awareness of the project. This media exposure will be the most media exposure that we have ever received for a Good Turn project. This media exposure represents a significant investment on their part towards helping the community with the need for food.    
         
         
    *WHO IS GOING TO DISTRIBUTE THE FOOD TO THE POOR?    
       
         
   

Because we are collecting the food and advertising the fact that this food is for the hungry of our area, the food will stay in our area. Food in North Carolina will stay in North Carolina and Food in Virginia will stay in Virginia. It will be handled by the various food banks that know the exact rules about what items can be collected, how to distribute the food based on individuals in need etc. The Boy Scouts will not be involved in this part of the operation although we know some units work with Food Banks or do this kind of thing.

Our Pack will be collecting food for the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia.

    
   
For more info about their program
    
         
         
    *IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE?    
       
         
    There may be some other details to cover in the future such as the meetings, when to get certain things and other tools for each unit. We will communicate this information directly to your Scouting for Food Chairman as soon as you registered their name with our Council.

You can notify your council rep (Dave Davies) or Linda Boyce at lboyce@bsamail.org, who your Scouting for Food Chairman is. We will need your type of unit: Pack, troop, post, crew etc, your unit's number, who your chair is, their telephone numbers for office, home, cell, e-mail address, and if they are not currently registered in Scouting their address if they cannot be readily found on your roster.

ONLY THROUGH SERVICE, DO WE UNDERSTAND, THE NEEDS OF OTHERS, AND BY UNDERSTANDING NEEDS, WE CAN HELP THOSE THAT FOR WHATEVER REASON HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO HELP THEMSELVES.		    
         
         
   
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