Boy Scouts support Bay Area food banks with annual Scouting for Food campaign
Bay Area members of the Boy Scouts of America helped to collect thousands of pounds of donations for local food banks this month.
Scouting For Food is an annual campaign that contributes to the many ways communities support Food For Bay Area Families in the fall.
"I think it's really great. I love how big it is and how many people it can accommodate," said Dylan Chadwick, an Eagle Scout who toured one of the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank warehouses in October with other Scouts. "We're just putting out flyers and then collecting food and sending it to places like this. So you're really see how it functions in the grand scheme of things."
Scout troops came by the facility in San Francisco on a Sunday last month to learn more about how the nonprofit operates and distributes the food they help bring into their supply. Scouting For Food is a national effort to spread awareness about helping families in need by promoting a pickup day one weekend in November and then collecting donations the following weekend.
"Well as a Boy Scout, I think it's important one of the things that we live by is that we have to help out our community," Chadwick told KPIX. "It's kind of like our duty to help out other people."
The San Francisco-Marin Food Bank has partnered with local Scouts for more than 10 years. This particular campaign can bring in nearly 30,000 pounds of food that is picked up and driven to warehouses in SF and Marin County. It also serves as a chance for scouts to volunteer at a younger age and it comes at a time when local food banks can use the extra help.
"It's an opportunity for kids to get involved in supporting their community," said Katy Mann McKnight, the director of community engagement for the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank. "As the pandemic funding is starting to go away, now more than ever, we need the community's support to ensure that we're able to continue distributing as much food as possible."
The experience not only allows Chadwick to maintain the values of the Scouts, but it also helps him to build stronger connections with others in the group. The bond he has made with fellow scouts motivates him to do more important work in the community.
"One of the things that keeps me going in Scouts, is like my friends, it's like all the friendships I've built and all the things I enjoy doing," he said.