Scouts From Northwestern Fairfax To Collect Food For Local Charities

HERNDON, VA — Scouts and their adult leaders from around Northern Virginia will be collecting donated food from their neighbors on Nov. 12, as part of the annual Scouting for Food collection. All of the food will be given to four local charities that assist those in need within the community.

In 2021, more than 680 scouts and 500 adult leaders from the Powhatan District, which covers Great Falls, Herndon, Reston, Oakton, and Chantilly, collected 44,350 pounds of food, according to a release.

Scouts will be dropping off all of the nonperishable food they collected from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., on Nov. 12, at the following locations:

• LINK: Trinity Presbyterian Church at 651 Dranesville Road, Herndon
• Community of Faith UMC Food Pantry at 13224 Franklin Farm Road, Herndon
• Cornerstones: St. John Neumann Church, 11900 Lawyers Road, Reston
• South Lakes High School PTSA Food Pantry: Good Shepherd Lutheran Church at 1133 Reston Ave., Herndon.

“Food insufficiency in Herndon, Sterling, and Ashburn is great and LINK volunteers are working hard to provide, thanks to all the generosity that we see from the community,” said Betty Eidemiller of LINK. In 2021, the charity's holiday program provided food for more than 1,008 families and 5,284 individuals.

“Scouting for Food is an important link in providing food for families in our neighborhoods," said Rev. Robert Vaughn, of the Community of Faith UMC Food Pantry, in a release. "Eighty-five percent of all the non-perishable items come from the annual collection – every can, box and bag make a difference in the lives of our clients. Some of our families receive their entire week’s groceries from the food ministry.” the UMC Food Pantry recently served 196 families in a single week.

South Lakes High School Food Pantry packs 20-25 pound bags of food and to distribute along with other items to about 140 families each week at the school, according to Roberta Gosling.

"These groceries serve students and families in the SLHS Pyramid," she said, in a release. "Prior to the pandemic, we knew that approximately 30 percent of the students at SLHS were food insecure — that’s approximately 730 students. Many have told us that these groceries and other products have been a life-saver for them.”

“Scouting for Food as well as other food drives are really important to Cornerstones food pantry," said Minnie Orozco of Cornerstones. "They help us provide food for our community who are in need and who cannot afford to buy food.”

In FY 2021, Cornerstones’ Assistance Services and Pantry Program assisted 1,347 households, benefiting 4,810 people. As the largest food distribution program in northwestern Fairfax County, the ASPP serves more than 430 households per month.