Local Boy Scouts are encouraging the community to give to the Scouting for Food Drive to help stock local food pantries for the upcoming holiday season. Last weekend, thousands of Boy Scouts went door-to-door, delivering door hangers asking local residents to donate nutritious canned goods for their annual food drive. This week, community members are asked to fill bags with non-perishable goods and leave them on their doorstep for Saturday morning, Nov. 7 when Scouts will return to collect the food items beginning at 9 a.m.

For 28 years, the Boy Scouts Scouting for Food campaign has inspired the community to help those in need.

“The Scouting for Food Drive is our Council’s most significant annual community service event,” said John Mosby, the Narragansett Council’s Scout Executive/CEO. “It reinforces important lessons and values taught in Scouting and gives young men a firsthand experience of serving their community and helping their neighbors.”

Last year, the drive collected more than 140,000 pounds of food, which helped the Rhode Island Community Food Bank to stock pantries around the state, as well as some food pantries in Southeastern Massachusetts and Connecticut. Since the drive’s inception in 1988, the Narragansett Council has collected more than 8 million pounds of food.

“This food drive wouldn’t be possible without the Scouts, parents and leaders who put their heart and soul into this effort,” said Andrew Schiff, chief executive officer of the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. “We know the community will step up and do their part by leaving out healthy food for the Boy Scouts to collect. This food drive will help the 60,000 Rhode Islanders served by the Food Bank and its member agencies each month.”

Scouts encourage donors to fill bags with the Food Bank’s most needed items:  

l Canned Soup, Tuna, Canned Meats, Peanut Butter, Nuts

l Canned Fruits & Vegetables, Dried Fruit, Tomato Sauce

l Nutritious Breakfast Cereals, Whole Wheat Pasta, Rice

l Granola Bars and other healthy snacks

l Canned or Dried Beans

Scouting for Food, the largest food drive in New England, is a cooperative effort supported by the Narragansett Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, WPRI Channel 12, FOX Providence, the Rhode Island Army National Guard, The Valley Breeze and local fire stations.

If the Scouts are unable to cover your neighborhood, please visit the West Bay Scout Shop, 1276 Bald Hill Road, Unit 160

Warwick to make your donation or bring it to the RI Community Food Bank any weekday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.