SCOUTS PLAN TO PICK UP BAGS OF CANNED FOODS ON SATURDAY

Over the weekend Boys Scouts in Southeast Missouri delivered 65,000 bags to doorsteps in hopes of collecting canned goods for needy families.

The scouts will make their rounds again Saturday to pick up the bags filled with food, said Tom Johnson, council program director.

In Cape Girardeau, food items will be collected at the 4-H Building in Arena Park.

The council encompasses 14 counties in Southeast Missouri.

During this week, organizers are asking that individuals buy a few extra cans of food for the drive. Specifically, they are asking for items like canned soup, chili, canned fish and meats, and vegetables.

On Saturday, scouts will begin picking up filled sacks as early as 8 a.m.

"Some of the troops will start fairly early," Johnson said. "We are encouraging people in the community to put the bags out as early as possible."

The food collected in each community stays in that community, Johnson said. In Cape Girardeau, the scouts joined with the Area Wide United Way to identify agencies that can use the canned goods.

In the past food collected here was divided between the Salvation Army and FISH. This year, the Gibson Recovery Center and the Safe House for Women have been added to the list.

Food collected in other areas will be given to the local food bank or local ministerial alliances in those communities.

"It's a lot of work," Johnson admitted, "especially next Saturday when we start having tons and tons of food.

"But it's good for the scouts. They can't believe it. This is something they are personally involved in making a difference. They are part of that huge pile of food."

Last year in Cape Girardeau Boy Scouts collected 11,000 cans in Cape Girardeau alone.

Individuals are asked to put a couple cans of food in the sack and place it on the doorstep.

If the food is not picked up, individuals may deliver it to the collection point, or may give it to their local church.

Johnson said Boy Scouting has established certain "unacceptables;" hunger is one. "Hunger ought to be one of the easiest to solve," he said.