FOOD DRIVE: BOY SCOUTS, UNITED WAY TEAM UP FOR COLLECTION OCT. 31-NOV. 7

The Boy Scouts have teamed up with the Area Wide United Way for the annual Scouting for Food Drive, scheduled Oct. 31 and Nov. 7.

Scouting for Food is a national project of the Boy Scouts to collect canned food items which are then distributed to local charities.

Tony Smee, district executive for the Boy Scouts, said, "This is our national good turn. We thought, Who better than the United Way to help us?"

Bob Hoppmann, Scouting for Food chairman for the Cape Girardeau area, said, "We are a United Way entity. We hope that the United Way can help us out with our drive so we can get more food from the community."

Boy Scouts will also be distributing some of the food collected to some United Way agencies which have a need for canned goods.

In the past, all the food collected in Cape Girardeau has gone to the Salvation Army and FISH. Organizers said the bulk of the food will continue to be distributed to those organizations.

Smee said, "We knew there had to be other organizations that could also benefit from our drive. There are some organizations that a couple of cases of food would be like gold to."

Hoppmann added, "Hopefully with the United Way involvement, we will get more product, so we will have more to go around and make more people happy."

Canned goods will be collected by scouts in each area throughout the Southeast Missouri Boy Scout Council. Food collected in each community will be used to feed the hungry in that community.

On Oct. 31, scouts will distribute collection bags door to door. During the week, individuals are asked to place canned goods into the bags.

Some 60,000 bags are ready for distribution. The bags are provided by Schnucks.

"Bigger troops take whole subdivisions. Smaller troops take neighborhoods," Hoppmann said.

On Nov. 7, the scouts will return to neighborhoods to pick up the food. In Cape Girardeau, food will be brought to the 4-H barn at Arena Park in Cape Girardeau. Other communities have established drop-off points.

Last year, 11,000 cans of food were collected in Cape Girardeau alone.

Tom Johnson, program director for the council, said, "We make it easy. People don't have to leave their home. And they know the food will be used locally."

Smee added that sometimes individuals are cautious about donating money, questioning where the dollars go. "If they give something concrete, they know how it will be used," he said.

Johnson said Boy Scouting has established certain "unacceptables; hunger is one.

"Hunger ought to be one of the easiest to solve," he said.

Organizers are asking for items like canned soup, chili, canned fish and meats, and vegetables.

Hoppmann said, "The key is to get the bags out early on the pick-up day." Scouts will begin picking up bags by 8 a.m.

Smee said Troop 2 in Cape Girardeau annually takes a large section of the city and picks up canned goods in a flat-bed truck.

"It's neat to see the boys' reaction when they collect all this food. They get real excited," Hoppmann said.