On March 17, 2018, the boy scouts of Suffolk County Council came together to give back to their community. The annual Scouting For Food was held at the Lindenhurst Moose Lodge. Under the command of scoutmaster, Mr. Paul LaMartina, Senior Patrol Leader, Jarred Navarro, and the help from scouts all around the district, the event was a huge success.

Scouting For Food is an event participated in by scouts from all around the country annually. The bagging process took place between 8 a.m. and 12 p.m. During this time, units brought their food into to the Moose Lodge to be weighed, and then it went off to the table to be un-bagged, re-bagged and distributed. Scouts were treated to a free lunch consisting of hot dogs, and the option of iced tea or water. Afterward, between 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. in the afternoon, various churches and food pantries came down to the Moose Lodge to collect the donations. The scouts loaded up each vehicle, and also donated a stack of paper bags to be given to those who receive help from the charities.

After scouts and their individual units here in Lindenhurst collected donations of non-perishable items from people going shopping, they met at the Moose Lodge #1421 to get it ready for donation. All of the scouts, scout leaders, and other volunteers pitched in on sorting the food, creating new food bags, and distributing the new food bags to the numerous pantries. By the end of the day, all of the approximately 15 food pantries we’re able to leave with the minimum of 20 full food bags, and a maximum of 50 full food bags. In total, these bags all together weighed over 6,100 pounds worth of non-perishable food!

Anthony Chiarelli, a life scout from Troop #60, stated in an interview, “It was really organized and is a really good thing for our community. We have fun doing food drives like this one and we enjoy helping the community through these events.” Denise Navarro, the committee chair and den leader of Pack #1421, stated in an interview, “It’s a great way of getting the young scouts involved in helping out other people in their community.”

If you want to know when another event such as this will occur, look for a scouting unit near you or follow @sagtikosbsa on Instagram to find out more about scouts and events such as this!