Boy Scouts’ food drive nets huge results

The dedicated work of dozens of Southington Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts and their families paid off tremendously for Bread for Life when more than 6 tons of food was collected in early November.

The annual Scouting for Food drive was launched the previous weekend when Scouts swept through neighborhoods to hang yellow collection bags upon front door knobs. By 9 a.m. on Nov. 9, troops returned to pick up hundreds of bags of food which were taken to First Baptist Church of Southington for sorting and packing. By the afternoon, 310 boxes were loaded in various vans and trucks, and transported to the Bread for Life storage facility.

Scouting for Food is conducted by Boy Scout organizations throughout the country. “We are honored to help Bread for Life in their service to others,” said Jim Dinnan, a Troop 17 leader. Many Scout families their participation an annual tradition.

“Scouting for Food is our largest collection of the year and with 12,795 pounds of food donated this year, it was the most successful yet,” said Eldon Hafford, Bread for Life executive director.

Bread for Life, a food program begun in 1984 for Southington residents, serves a hot lunch and take-home meal every weekday as well as delivers meals to the housebound and seniors in subsidized housing.

Boy Scouts in the Connecticut Yankee Council have been participating in Scouting for Food for 25 years, according to Jim Racca, Boy Scout leader in the Sleeping Giant District and food drive coordinator.

“Southington is a very generous community and the outpouring for the Scouts’ food drive was tremendous. We are so grateful. Such support ensures that we can fulfill our mission ‘that no one may go hungry,’” Hafford said.

For more information about Bread for Life, visit the website www.southingtonbreadforlife.org .