Scouting for Food
Scouting for Food is an popular food drive service project for scouts. While usually sponsored by local council as a coordinated annual event, many individual scout units and families have held their own food drive. It is a cornerstone event for Good Turn service.
Program Overview
Typically scouts walk neighborhoods and leave a "door-hanger" or other invite with residents. This notices announces a coordinated pickup to happen on a certain weekend (Saturday Morning) and residents are invited to leave a bag of donated non-perishable foods, toys or other high-demand consumable products for donation to a local charity, food bank, or homeless shelter.
Scouting for Food is the largest food collection event in the nation. Approximately 300,000 Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA, Venturers, friends, familiy and other volunteer go door-to-door collecting non-perishable food items for the less fortunate. The food is then distributed to local food pantries and assistance agencies across the globe. It directly benefits many community assistance agencies. Many scout units do this event in conjunction with one or more local churches.
Remember: The Boy Scouts of America’s slogan is Do a Good Turn Daily.
Please help the Scouts help the less fortunate families in our communities at this time of need by donating.
Adopt-A-Charity
This service project is a grand opportunity for scout units to learn about a specific charity operations in their neighborhood (as required in the Citizenship in the Community Merit Badge). The scout troop can help them an important need they have to collect food and other donations. The scouts can also have the opportunity to learn about other ways they can do joint projects with the charity, including:
- Eagle Service Projects to improve their facilities
- Eagle Service Projects to serve their constituency
- Eagle Service Projects to do a special donation drive
- Prepare meals for the patrons of the charity
- Repairs, cleaning and other maintenance
- Provide publicity and referrals for the facility
- Feature your charity partner on your troop blog, newsletter or social media feed
Unit Participation
Make a plan in your Scout Unit to participate as a Patrol or Family. Scout may participate in the following:
- Registering your service plan with your District or Council.
- Deliver promotional flyers (door-hangers) door-to-door.
- Placing food bank barrels at participating businesses, churches and other community locations.
- Local Media kick-off event
- Volunteering service at a local food bank pantry
- Broadcast the word thru email, social media, blogs, troop and church newsletters.
- Report your success stories to Council.
- Encourage others to make a "Virtual Donation" thru a go-fund-me type campaign.
- Log your Service Hours.
- Many Councils feature a Scouting for Food (SFF) Parcitipation patch.
Other Unit Participation
"We use to go door to door handing out bags but actually got complaints for knocking on doors 😞 So now we set up a tent at our local grocery store and doo Fill A Tent. We do it with our Pack so each Den and each Patrol get a different night to be there. Then on Saturday we load it all up and deliver to our pantry."
Note: We stopped knocking doors. Instead we just placed a door-hanger on each one and run to the next house.
District Event Preparation
Donation Guidelines
Suggested Donations Guideline
- Canned Goods : Tuna, Chicken, Fruit, Vegetables, Soup, Chili, Spaghetti, or Ravioli
- Food Stuffs : Peanut Butter, Cereal, Pop Tarts, Pancake Mix, Crackers, Cookies, Instant Soup, Rice, Beans, Pasta, Powdered Juice or Milk, Dried Fruits, Snack Bars.
- Any non-perishable food item
- NO Frozen Foods
- NO Open Containers
- NO Glass Containers