SALT LAKE CITY – Boy Scouts in Utah teamed up with local food banks and many other volunteers in an effort they hope will collect more than a million pounds of food for Hungry Utahns.
The 28th annual Scouting for Food drive benefited organizations like the Utah Food Bank, and the donations were collected Saturday.
More than 55,000 people, including Boy Scouts, volunteered their time to gather the food donations for local food pantries, and they collected hundreds of thousands of pounds of non-perishable food for Utahns.
One scout at the event, Evan, spoke about the effort.
“It makes me feel good that I know that I’m helping people,” he said.
Ginette Bott, Chief Development Officer for the Utah Food Bank, said they collect a variety of food products.
“We’re seeing great quantities of canned meats, of fruit of vegetables,” she said. “We’re seeing lots of pastas, lots of boxed meals. The number one item kids ask for is macaroni and cheese, and there’s a lot of that today, so we’re very pleased with the variety.”
Bott said one in five children in Utah don’t know where their next meal is coming from. According to the food bank’s website, one out every six Utahns, about 475,000, miss at least one meal a day. For more information about the Utah Food Bank, visit their website.
