A very important part of the Cub Scout promise is the idea that a Cub Scout gives good will. Boy Scouts promise to help other people at all times. And so many Scouts from Kindergarten through 12th grade will be fanning out across their neighborhoods this fall, distributing plastic bags with slips similar to these inside of them:
We are the Scouts of Pack/Troop ###. Please fill this bag with non-perishable items and place it outside your door before 7 AM on ##/##. Items will be donated to local food banks. Thank you!
These bags support the Scouting for Food program, in which young men across the country gather food donated by their neighbors, sort and separate the donations (often throwing out 1/5 to 1/4 of what they gather due to the food being expired), and then deliver them to local food banks and shelters.
This year is more crucial than ever to the efforts of Scouts to assist our local pantries. Food banks across the country are dealing with food shortages now, and preparing for worse shortages this winter.
Early this morning, Scout got up, got dressed, and ate breakfast. He was out the door to collect bags of food earlier than the time he normally leaves for school - on a Saturday! We drove through the pouring rain to our assigned street, and then Scout took over. As we moved our truck down the street, he ran from house to house, quickly soaked from the November downpour.
This year was different from previous years, however. We drove down a road of half-million dollar houses, most of whose owners we'd spoken to when we distributed the bags a week previous. Stoop after stoop, mailbox after mailbox, there were simply no bags. On a street of thirty homes, we picked up three bags.
Carrying them back to the church where our pack meets, we found similar stories, and our can count was a shock to the system. After separating out all the expired food (though nothing compared to last year's record: a can of beans which expired in 1999), we had a finalized can count of just over 2000 cans to carry to the local food banks. Compare this to last year's donation total of just shy of 7000 cans, and I worry very much about the status of those food banks this winter.
No one needs to be told what the consequences might be for local communities if local food banks are unable to assist the families in greatest need during this time of economic strife. I worry that each of us looks at the bags and thinks, "Oh, damn, I forgot to do that," or "But I have a moral objection to the Scouts," or whatever the reason might be.
How long does it really take to put a few cans in a bag and put them outside the door?
Not as long as it took most of us to vote, I'm sure. While our votes may have greater national effect, our donations to local food banks and shelters will have immediate local effect.
Greatest need is always for baby formula and other baby supplies, but anything that you can give is always needed, now more than ever. If you feel you cannot donate via the Scouts (and how to bring change to Scouting is another diary for another day), please donate on your own. Each can makes a difference to the viability of your local charity missions.