Editor,
Saturday March 23 is a big day for local food banks: it’s the day of the annual Scouting for Food drive, happening all across the state of Utah. Many of you participate in this yearly event by putting non-perishable food items outside your door by 9 a.m. for the Boy Scouts to pick up. Here is what happens to that food after the Scouts collect it:
The food collected in Northern Utah stays right here in the area. Hundreds of local Scouts are out in force on that morning. Some Scouts load up a pickup truck and bring their food directly to a local food bank; others bring the food to a rendezvous point where National Guard volunteers load it onto flatbeds, where it is transported to local food banks by the Guard that same day. At Catholic Community Services (CCS) in Ogden, the largest food bank in Northern Utah, we have over 100 volunteers working tirelessly to sort that food as it comes—all of this happens by 4 p.m. on the day of the drive.
From there, food goes directly into the hands of clients in need.
Last year, CCS collected 68,000 pounds of food during the Scouting drive, making it one of our largest single-day drives of the year. Community drives help our food bank to feed over 2,000 income-qualified households every month, and fulfill a critical basic need that many families and individuals struggle to meet during tough times.
We want the local community to know that every pound of food and every dollar donated to CCS during the months of March and April this year, including the Scouting for Food Drive, will be counted and considered for the Feinstein $1 Million Challenge, a national philanthropic campaign that rewards food pantries based on the amount of donations they receive.
If you place a bag full of cans or boxed food outside your door that Saturday morning, the Scouts will take care of the rest.
Thank you for helping your local emergency food agencies ensure that even in tough times, everyone is fed and nobody’s basic needs are ignored.
Karina Martin
Catholic Community Services of
Northern Utah
Ogden
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