Boy Scout food drive slated for Saturday at IE markets

Scouts of the Gray Arrow District of the California Inland Empire Council, Boy Scouts of America, will conduct their annual Scouting for Food drive from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, at the entrances of grocery stores from Grand Terrace to the Banning Pass.

As shoppers enter participating stores, Scouts will give them lists of foods most needed by agencies that provide for to people in need. People may leave their food donations with the Scouts as they leave the stores.

Participating stores include some Stater Bros., Albertsons and Vons stores from the San Bernardino Valley area to the Pass area. Gerrards Market in Redlands and Jensen’s in

Blue Jay will also participate, and the Sprouts store in Redlands will donate some items directly to Boy Scout service project leaders, according to a news release.

Scouts will also collect food donations in Lake Arrowhead and Crestline.

The food collected in the drive will go to nonprofit agencies including the San Bernardino and Redlands Salvation Army service offices; Family Service Association of Redlands and its Yucaipa Outreach Project; Yucaipa Family Assistance; and H.E.L.P. Inc. in the Banning Pass.

For the sixth year in a row, some of the food will also go to the Inland Empire Ronald Mcdonald House in Loma Linda, according to the news release.

In the mountain communities, Operation Provider, which helps families in need, will receive food from the drive.

After the drive, Scouts, parents and leaders will sort and deliver the food.

Joining them for a fourth year will be members of the Young Marines, sponsored by the Redlands Elks Lodge.

The Scouting for Food drive has taken place in the Inland Empire since 2001.

Scouts collected 40,000 pounds of food in last year’s drive, according to the news release.

For information about the Scouting for Food program, contact Ed Lucas, chairman of the program for the Gray Arrow District, by emailing edmech02@msn.com or calling 951-906-3713.