Scouts spearhead annual food drive

The Greater St. Louis Area Council, Boy Scouts of America, starts its 30th annual Scouting For Food Drive on Saturday with the distribution of bags to more than 1 million homes.

More than 30,000 scouts, parents and volunteers throughout the council, including many from Cape Girardeau, are expected to participate. The St. Louis Area Council's footprint covers the area from the Bootheel north to St. Charles, Missouri.

"It's a big food drive, so we need a lot of people," said Christine Dieckmann, director of marketing and communications for the Boy Scouts in St. Louis.

On average, more than 2 million food items are collected throughout the council's area, which is more than 560,000 meals, Dieckmann said.

"It makes such a huge impact," she said.

This is the largest one-day food drive in the region. Canned good donations in the Cape Girardeau area are delivered directly to local food pantries. More than 500 pantries throughout the Greater St. Louis Area Council benefit from the food drive. Within 48 hours of the Scouts' pickup, the first donations are on food pantry shelves, according to a news release.

Southeast Missouri Food Bank chief development officer Kate Struttman said the drives help the food bank because the items go directly to its 10 hunger relief member agencies in the Cape Girardeau area.

"They just take it straight to our pantries for us and it's wonderful," Struttman said.

She said the need for food items is constant and it grows during the winter. Information from the food bank says 15.4 percent of Cape Girardeau County's population, or 11,620 people, are food insecure, or in need of food supplementation.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

388-3639

Pertinent address:

Cape Girardeau, MO