Chester Boy Scout Troop Annual ‘Scouting for Hunger’ Food Drive Needs Your Help After Hurricane Sandy Results in Low Donations

Online Food Drive Extended Until December 4

The Chester Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts did everything right this year for their traditional ‘Scouting For Hunger’ Food Drive to benefit the Community Presbyterian Church’s (CPC) food basket program. Then Hurricane Sandy intervened, and the drive produced only 10 percent of the annual yield of food. For Boy Scout Troop 139, Cub Scout Pack 316 and Cub Scout Pack 139, it was another year affected by poor weather. Last year, after a snowstorm, the scouts only collected about 40 percent of their typical Scouting for Food donations.

“It was very disappointing for the boys this year because they still did the same amount of work to distribute flyers and drop off collection bags to 3,330 homes, and then try to collect those goods in the aftermath of the hurricane,” says Larry Martin, Committee Chair of Troop 139.

Fortunately the scouts have partnered with YouGiveGoods, a company that helps individuals and groups to run online food and other relief drives. The online drive ends on December 4, so there is still time for the Chester community to contribute. Participants can go to the drive page, buy items neatly case packed, and the food items will be delivered directly to CPC. The link to the drive is: http://www.yougivegoods.com/ScoutingForFood2012

Last Easter the scouts used a YouGiveGoods online drive to make plentiful Easter baskets for those in need. The scouts found that this drive produced a variety of products that were more in keeping with what hungry families will really use.

“In the traditional food drive, it is nice to pick up pounds of food, but how usable is most of  it?” says Mr. Martin. “Some of the food may be expired, and you may get condiments and other foods that are not the most needed items. With the online YouGiveGoods, we were able to pack the baskets with 100 percent usable food.”

CPC prepares a delivery of fresh foods, turkeys, and items collected by the scouts and makes them into baskets for 50-60 families in the area. Deliveries are made at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter each year.

“The Chester community can also help by sharing information on their personal Facebook pages and forwarding to friends and family,” says YouGiveGoods’ CEO, Patrick O’Neill. “With the online food drive, the scouts can better assist local families through a collection of items they most need.”

YouGiveGoods is based in Morristown, NJ and is operated by a group of people who strongly believe in the importance of helping others in need. It was developed to allow people and organizations to send goods more efficiently and effectively to food pantries, animal shelters, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and other organizations across the country. The innovative e-commerce platform is designed to inspire people to give and help others. Visit YouGiveGoods.com.