For the Reporter

The Boy Scouts of America in Kent, and throughout the Puget Sound area, teamed up to do a good turn for the community.

Scouts collected nonperishable food items throughout the city as part of the Scouting for Food drive. Hundreds of Scouts went door-to-door through neighborhoods, collecting bag after bag of food, bringing them to the Kent Food Bank, 515 W. Harrison St.

Between Kent and Renton alone, more than 10,000 pounds of food were gathered and delivered. Across the greater Seattle Area, the total neared 100,000 pounds.

Service to others is among the most important values of the Boy Scouts of America. “It was fun to put the fliers out on doors asking for food, even though it was raining,” said a smiling Liam Hays, a new Scout in Troop 408. “It felt nice to help people who I will probably never see.”

Todd Daniels, one of the assistant scoutmasters for Troop 408, was impressed.

“Our boys have been part of the Scouting for Food drive for at least 12 or 13 years now,” he said. “It has been very gratifying to our Scouts to start giving back to their community at such a young age.”

Last year, Boy Scouts in the Kent and Renton area contributed more than 10,000 hours of community service, valued at nearly $250,000.

It is estimated that nationally 17.6 million American households live in homes that experience hunger: where meals are frequently skipped or who go without food for a whole day, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Household Food Security in the United States. Through the combined efforts 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 development and values-based leadership training.

For more information about the programs available through the BSA in Kent and Renton, please contact Sean Mobley at smobley@seattlebsa.org, or visit www.BeAScout.org.