A 40-year-old Scout tradition of food donation got its start in St. Louis
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Millions of people who rely on SNAP benefits were not able to buy food when those benefits were paused during the government shutdown. As part of our series Here to Help, we look at the Scouting America volunteers helping to ease food insecurity across the country. It's a tradition that started 40 years ago in St. Louis. Lacretia Wimbley of member station St. Louis Public Radio reports.
LACRETIA WIMBLEY, BYLINE: On this day, there were dozens of Scouts - boys and girls - at one of the St. Louis County firehouses dressed in their uniforms - tan shirts with green pants - helping to sort through hundreds of bags of donated food. Fourteen-year-old Yuhan Liu is a member of troop 21G.
YUHAN LIU: Hunger is very prevalent in America, and we should do anything that we can to fight hunger because anyone can affect hunger, and hunger can affect anybody.
UNIDENTIFIED TROOP LEADER: We can just take them out of the bags and put them in.
WIMBLEY: The Scouting for Food program started in 1985 in St. Louis as a one-time service project. It quickly became a signature initiative, expanding to scouting councils across the country three years later. On a weekend, Scouts in St. Louis will put blue plastic grocery bags on the doorknobs of homes and leave flyers with instructions asking residents to fill the bags with food.
TOM COSCIA: For years it's been getting bigger.
WIMBLEY: Sixty-five-year-old Scoutmaster Tom Coscia has been a scout since he was 14 and has participated in the food drive since it began.
COSCIA: It's even more important this year than ever because of what's currently happening right now in the nation. I just know there are people that are struggling right now because they don't have their SNAP benefits, and I'm sure this helps them.
WIMBLEY: Millions of food items are donated through the St. Louis Scouting for Food program. The scouting council says it meant last year's pantries were able to provide about 500,000 meals in the region. However, Coscia says donations have fluctuated during the past few years.
COSCIA: It kind of got a little smaller after COVID, but then it was - there was such a demand, they decided to continue to make it an annual event. The need was there, and once - I guess, once you start doing it, to stop it, it's kind of hard (laughter).
WIMBLEY: Blue bags and canned goods were everywhere in the firehouse. Scout Luke Kaikati helped organize the donations by placing them in large bins.
LUKE KAIKATI: So we put them in dry boxes and wet boxes, and depending on what's in the box, we sort it later.
WIMBLEY: Each year, the Scouts are surprised by unusual donations like military meals and old boots. Rob Brockhaus, the Cubmaster for Pack 400, says someone recently even submitted a can of caviar.
ROB BROCKHAUS: So OK? However you want to be generous, that is great, but, you know, the staples of corns and green beans and pasta, stuffing, those Thanksgiving things, those are the highlights. That's what we see most often.
WIMBLEY: The event offers a unique perspective for young Scouts who may not fully understand what food insecurity means. Dressed in a navy blue uniform adorned with her Cub Scout patches, 9-year-old Evelyn Ching says she gets it.
EVELYN CHING: I really like being a Scout because I get to help with the people in need, with giving food to them, and I also get to do really fun things about, like, hiking and camping.
WIMBLEY: The Scouting for Food program continues a few days past Thanksgiving. Donations can still be dropped off at participating grocery stores and firehouses through early December. For NPR News, I'm Lacretia Wimbley in St. Louis, Missouri.
CHANG: And tomorrow, we hear about another massive effort to feed families for Thanksgiving. It started with one simple idea 30 years ago. You can hear more stories about service and community at npr.org/heretohelp.
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