From a press release:
The Boy Scouts of America in Renton and across the Greater Puget Sound teamed up to do a good turn for the community by collecting non-perishable food items throughout the city as part of the Scouting for Food drive.
More than 250 Scouts, ages 7-20 canvased communities door-to-door, collecting bag after bag of food and delivering them to the Renton Salvation Army Food Bank.
In Renton and Kent, the areas served by the Green River District’s Boy Scouting arm, nearly 10,000 pounds of food were gathered and delivered
Service to others is among the most important values of the Boy Scouts of America.
“I try to help people as much as I can,” says newly awarded Eagle Scout Jan, 17, of Renton. “I try to live by the Scout Oath and Law every day as much as I can.”
“Scouting is one of the last programs out there that puts a focus on helping other,” commented Jon Harthun, the advisor for the local Scouting for Food effort. Indeed, a recent Tufts University found that young people involved with Scouts are more helpful, kind, and cheerful than their non-Scouting peers. “We have fun year-round, and part of that is teaching our Scouts that helping others is fun.”
The Scouts who participated in Scouting for Food accumulated 8,767 service hours over the two-day event, valued at about $73,000, according to a press release from the Boy Scouts.
It is estimated that nationally 50 million people including 17 million children live in homes that experience hunger: where meals are frequently skipped or who go without food for a whole day. Through the combined effort of local residents, neighborhood food banks and the Boy Scouts of America, hungry families will know that their community cares by providing meals for them to eat.
The Chief Seattle Council serves thousands of young people between 7 and 20 years of age across the greater Seattle area through the Boy Scouts of America, the nation’s foremost youth program promoting character and values-based leadership training.
For more information about programs available through the BSA in Renton and Kent, please contact Sean Mobley at smobley@SeattleBSA.org or visit www.BeAScout.org.
