BOY SCOUTS TO PICK UP FOOD TODAY

Boy Scouts from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. today will collect the bags they left on doors last weekend to cap the Scouting for Food campaign.

Some 1,500 area Boy Scouts will pick up bags that residents have filled with can goods. The bags will be delivered to Boy Scout troop leaders.

Scout leaders will take the bags to the 4-H Pavilion at Arena Park and distribute them to representatives of four local food pantries.

Those who did not receive a bag to donate food can still contribute by taking cans of food to Boatmen's banks in Missouri and Magna Banks in Illinois today through Nov. 18.

Sandy Casey, who works for the Boy Scouts organization, said she was surprised at how many people were helped by such a campaign. "I just couldn't believe how many agencies called and said they needed food for hungry people," Casey said.

The need for food to aid the hungry is greater since the government will end its program in January. This is the largest one-day food drive by the Boy Scouts.