Each fall Rhode Island’s Boy Scouts embark on drives to collect non-perishable food items for the Rhode Island Community Food Bank.

This Saturday, area scouts from 200 packs and troops will kick off their 21st annual “Scouting for Food” drive by dropping off bags for food donations in Rhode Island neighborhoods. They will collect these food-filled bags on the following Saturday, Nov. 7, starting at 9 a.m.

The annual drive gives Scouts the opportunity to apply the lessons they learn in Scouting to issues that face members of their community on a daily basis, says Tom Brillant, Quequatuck District Coordinator for Scouting for Food.

“Our Scouts are committed to doing a good turn daily and the drive reinforces that important lesson,” Brillant said.

Last year alone, Scouts for the Quequatuck District collected nearly 12,000 pounds of food for the drive.

“It is amazing when you think of all the food that has been collected by our hardworking scouts over the past two decades,” said Andrew Schiff, chief executive officer of the Food Bank.

“Times are tough for many people and we are seeing more and more working families in need of food assistance,” Schiff said. “The efforts of the Narragansett Council Boy Scouts and the generosity of the community will go a long way in helping our neighbors in need during the coming months.”

Schiff encouraged donors to fill their bags with the Food Bank’s most needed items. They include proteins, as can be found in canned soups, tuna, meats, peanut butter and other nuts. The food bank also needs canned fruits and vegetables, including juices and tomato sauce.

Other suggested items include carbohydrates—nutritious breakfast cereals, whole-wheat pasta, rice, crackers, granola bars, cheese and cracker packages and canned or dried beans.

Last year the drive took place throughout the Narragansett Council district—including Rhode Island, Southeastern Massachusetts and Connecticut. Scouts collected more than 300,000 pounds of food, with 210,000 pounds going directly to the Food Bank. Since the drive’s inception in 1988, the Narragansett Council has collected more than 6.3 million pounds of food for Rhode Islanders in need.

According to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, nearly 11 percent of Rhode Island households are at risk of going hungry. The Rhode Island Community Food Bank has seen an increased need for food. The food bank currently feeds 50,000 Rhode Islanders each month—26 percent more people than it fed last year.

In the past fiscal year alone, the food bank distributed 9.5 million pounds of food.

The Rhode Island Community Food Bank, located in Providence, feeds Rhode Islanders through a network of 285 certified member agency programs across the state. The food bank solicits, stores and distributes food products donated by supermarkets, wholesalers, food processors, local farmers and community food drives. The food is then distributed to the food bank’s agencies. More information about the food bank is available online at www.rifoodbank.org.

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

The Narragansett Council asks individuals that if scouts are unable to cover their neighborhood, to visit local Walgreen’s stores to drop off donations between Oct. 26 and Nov. 8.

Area packs involved in the drive are:

1 Warwick, 1 Buttonwoods (Warwick), 1 Arctic (West Warwick), 1 Gaspee Plateau (Warwick), 1 Cowesett (Warwick), 2 Natick (Warwick), 3 East Greenwich, 4 Frenchtown (East Greenwich), 4 Gaspee Plateau (Warwick), 4 Coventry, 7 West Greenwich, 7 Buttonwoods (Warwick), 11 Coventry, 17 Blackrock (Coventry), 39 Summit (Coventry), 49 Lakewood (Warwick), 51 Warwick, 111 Warwick, 156 Warwick, 183 Warwick, 71 Cowesett (East Greenwich), 13 Centerville (West Warwick), 804 Warwick.

Area troops scheduled to participate are:

1 Conimicut, 1 Gaspee Plateau, 15 Warwick, 183 Warwick, 4 Gaspee Plateau, 49 Lakewood, 804 Warwick, 1 Warwick, 117 Warwick, 1284 Warwick, 51 Warwick, 7 Buttonwoods, 71 Cowesett, 1 Arctic, 1 Coventry, 11 Coventry, 2 Natick, 31 Crompton, 1 E. Greenwich, 2 E. Greenwich, 35 W. Greenwich, 39 Summit.

Are crews involved in the drive are:

Crew 11 Coventry, Crew 2 East Greenwich, Crew 39 Summit, Crew 034 CAP and Crew 183 Warwick.