2014 Scouting For Food

The troop formed up again this year to sort the incoming donations for the annual Scouting for Food Drive.  The

troop has been doing this job for several years now after discovering that there was no sorting help at a past food drive.

This year there were some big changes!  The biggest change was the move for the drop off point from the CVS parking lot at 4^th and Farmers Lane to the new Redwood Empire Food Bank facility off of Airport Blvd.  Another change was expanding the hours to a 5 hour window from the 3 hours it had been in the past (more on that later). 

The new location had some benefits and some deficits.  On the negative side, the new drop off is out by the airport on the extreme northern side of town, no longer in the more central location in the middle of town.  This may have discouraged some folks from participating.  On the positive side though, the new facility was perfect for drop offs, we had direct access to the warehouse and also use of their staff BBQ! 

Also on the negative side was the new hours for the drop off.  The event pulled in about the same amount of food as the years before.  So, with the longer drop off window, the spaces between deliveries were spaced out more.  In the past we had some dead time between drop offs.  This year the breaks were noticeable.  Still, the scouts did their best with the challenges.  They took a tour of the facility and worked on advancement when things were slow.

Speaking of which, the new Redwood Empire Food Bank facility is fabulous!  They have a quality location for collecting, sorting and distributing the food donations.  In fact another scout troop was in the warehouse sorting produce for distribution to the needy.

Outside, the scouts were taking care of business.  As each driver arrived, the boys unloaded the donated food.  Then it was into the weigh bin to tally the total for the Pack or Troop.  Once the weight was recorded, the troop sprang into action, sorting the food by type.  Dry goods went into one bin, while cans went into another and drinks into a third.  While that was going on, the food collectors were invited over to the BBQ for one of the hot dogs that the crew had ready.  As the cars and trucks rolled in, the bins filled to overflowing. 

As the afternoon wore on, the traffic slowed down to a crawl and then ended altogether.  With the day wearing on, the group decided to call it a day.  They cleaned the site up and packed it away.  When all was said and done, the drive netted about 9000 pounds of food!

Participants: Brian, Ben, Andrew P., Matt, Carl, Bryce, Owen, Zack A., Eric, James, John-Robert, Payton, Devon

Leaders:  Mr. Polkinghorn, Mr. Frazee, Mrs. Lara, Mrs. Haase

Lessons Learned:  The longer window didn't improve donations.  Setting the bags out 2 days before didn't work.  The new facility is fantastic!