Leave any bag or box full of food on your doorstep this Saturday morning and it will end up at a local food bank.
This Saturday hundreds of local Scouts will scour the front porch of every home in their communities to pick up boxes and bags of food for Tooele County’s local food banks.
Scouting For Food started 29 years ago as a national good turn project of the Boy Scouts of America.
“Last year, we collected 36,000 pounds of food,” said Mike Perry, chairman of the Scouting for Food drive for Tooele County. “This year we hope to meet or exceed that amount.”
Scouts are going around neighborhoods this week delivering door hangers that ask people to leave a bag or box of food on their doorstep by 9 a.m. on Saturday.
Scouts will then return to their neighborhoods on Saturday morning to pick up the food.
“The food we collect will stay in Tooele County and will go to either the Tooele or Grantsville food banks,” said John Poulson, the top volunteer leader for Scouting in Tooele County.
If Scouts miss a home, people may bring their food donations to one of three drop off locations on Saturday morning, Poulson said.
Those locations are: The Tooele Food Bank, the Grantsville Food Bank, and the parking lot of the LDS Seminary by Stansbury High School.
The most needed food items are soup, chili, canned meats like tuna fish and chicken, peanut butter and boxed meals, said Perry.
All commercially packaged non-perishable items in cans will be accepted. Products low in sodium, sugar and corn syrup are appreciated. No glass items please.
In past years Scouts delivered a special bag to homes prior to the pickup day. This year the Scouts are asking people to use any bag or box they already have at home.
“We’re going green this year,” said Perry.