Boy Scouts exceed last year’s collection for food bank

EAST PROVIDENCE – The Narragansett Council, Boy Scouts of America, has collected more than 200,000 pounds of food over the past several weeks in its Scouting for Food drive.
The food, which amounts to 60,000 pounds more than last year’s collection, goes to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank and area food pantries.
The council said it has hosted the drive for 28 years and collected more than 8 million pounds of food since then for Rhode Island, Connecticut and southeastern Massachusetts.
“Each year, we are impressed by the hard work and dedication our scouts’ put forth for this drive,” said John Mosby, the Narragansett Council’s scout executive and CEO. “Their continued involvement is a true testament to the lessons and values scouting teaches our youth.”
In an economy that has been slow to recover, regionally, residents have found themselves looking to the food bank for support. In Rhode Island alone, the USDA reports that nearly 14.4 percent of households are lacking food and about 4.6 percent are at risk of going hungry.
“Donations from this year’s drive will help the more than 60,000 Rhode Islanders we serve each month through our network of member agencies,” said Andrew Schiff, CEO of the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. “We’re incredibly grateful to the scouts, their families and troop leaders, and to those who donate to their neighbors in need. Without everyone’s help, Scouting for Food would not be possible.”
The council thanked all the donors of food that participated in the drive.
“We appreciate everyone’s efforts over the years in making Scouting for Food as successful as it is,” Mosby said.
Food is still being collected at two Scout Shop drop-off locations: the West Bay Scout Shop at 1276 Bald Hill Road, Unit 160, in Warwick, R.I., and the East Bay Scout Shop at 79 Swansea Mall Drive in Swansea, Mass. Donations can also be dropped off at the food bank at 200 Niantic Ave., Providence, any weekday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
For more information about the food bank, visit www.rifoodbank.org.

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