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Show Scouts help hungry citizens Thousands of Utah's hungry citizens will have food to eat, and thousands of Boy Scouts will have done their "good deed" when the Scouting for Food project is completed com-pleted in mid-November. As part of a nationwide effort, Cub and Boy Scouts throughout Davis County will distribute bags to homes the week before Nov. 17. They will ask residents to place non-perishable food in the bags, and they will return the next week, Nov. 17, to pick up the bags. h Varsity and Explorer Scouts will assemble and box the food which will be transported by members of the Utah National Guard. Utah Power & Light will provide the bags. All food collected will be distributed to local food bank operations opera-tions and to needy families throughout the state. "The potential good that can be accomplished through this effort is truly staggering," said David Campbell, chairman of Scouting for Food for the Great Salt Lake Council. Coun-cil. "Last year scouts in Utah collected col-lected 1.2 million food items in what has been characterized as the most successful food drive ever conducted in the state. Some of the food banks received enough items to last throughout the year. The Great Salt Lake Council collected 495,000 food items last year. "This year we expect to exceed that amount. Within the four Boy Scout Councils in Utah, we have a potential of 9,000 scouting units with a total of 136,000 registered youth available to participate, Campbell said. Nationally, some five million scouts will be involved. Campbell said the need for food is a growing problem throughout the state. He estimated that last year some 175,000 requests for food were filled from the various food banks. This does not include food given by the Salt Lake Food Bank to the various feeding stations. Richard Winters, head of the Salt Lake Food Bank, said that hundreds of Utah families are in need and will be assisted by this effort. "It is especially appropriate that this be done just before Thanksgiving, Thanksgiv-ing, Winters said. "The scouts can be thankful they are able to be helpful, the donors can be thankful they have enough to share, and the needy can be thankful they receive needed help. "This is a great service project for any scout in the state," said Winters. "This is a classic 'good turn' that every scout can do." Items needed are the following commercially canned or packaged goods: soup, beef stew, chili, canned fish, canned meats of any kind, canned vegetables, canned fruit, crackers, mixes all types, packaged cookies. Nothing perishable, frozen or in glass should be donated. |