Local Scouts collect for Salvation Army

The food collected will go to feed community members.

The Rome Rotary Club teamed up with the Boy Scouts of America Northwest Georgia Council on Saturday morning to supply the Salvation Army and other organizations with food donations for the third annual Scouting for Food event.

Last Saturday, Cub Scouts from the seven county region canvassed neighborhoods, leaving door hangers alerting community members to the food drive. The instructions were simple, if you have items to donate, just leave them on your front porch and the scouts will collect them.

Depending on the county, drop-off locations or organizations that received food items varied. The Rome Scouts brought their donations to the Salvation Army where members of the Rome Rotary Club unloaded and sorted the food.

Last year there were 18,000 pounds collected by the council, said Jeff Brasher, Scout Executive and CEO of the Northwest Georgia Council. The goal for Saturday was 20,000 pounds of food among the seven counties in the council.

Lead Case Worker Cathy Hart explained how the Scouts’ donation would help the Salvation Army’s work in the Rome area. The majority will be given away, she said, while the rest will go to supplement the food pantry which feeds about 50 people every night.

For perspective she provided a snapshot of how much food was given away in the month of January. The Salvation Army served 66 grocery orders, she said, which went to either an individual or family depending on circumstances. Each order contains enough food for 20 meals, equaling out to 1,320 meals provided to community members who needed a meal she said. On top of the meals given away, there were around 1,066 meals served during the course of January’s nightly meal service.

“It’s why we rely so heavily on the Can-A-Thon,” Hart said.

The Can-A-Thon is held at the end of November just when the Salvation Army is running out of food. The winter donations help keep the shelves stocked for another year and events like the Scouting for Food help keep supplies up.

/ John Popham Above: Scouts Katelyn Vaughn and her brother Kasey Vaughn (red jacket) unload a pickup full of food collected during the Scouting for Food event Saturday morning at the Salvation Army. Left: Theo Kislat, a Bear Cub Scout with Pack 113, unloads boxes of food which he then sorted into the blue barrels behind him.Below: Paul Ferguson (left) and Shay Wood of the Rome Rotary Club unload boxes of food.