Chester County Council, Boy Scouts of America proudly announces its 2021 Scouting for Food program. The annual outreach is coordinated in partnership with the Chester County Food Bank and sponsored by local stakeholders.

Donations — either food or funds — help alleviate the issue of local food insecurity, an often overlooked shortfall in what is considered to be financially well-off Chester County.

According to the Chester County Food Bank, however, the needs are deep and real. Analysis of its statistics reveal:

• Hunger is an area issue for one in ten Chester County families
• Nearly 18,000 children countywide report to school daily having eaten nothing that morning
• The shelves of the bank’s 36,000 square foot facility are in steady need of refilling and replenishing
• In responding to countywide emergencies (such as the recent Hurricane Ida), the nonprofit can respond within six hours with hot meals for up to 1,000 people

The scouts’ 2021 collection event will take place at its newly completed Oscar Lasko Program Activity Resource Campus (PARC) on Lincoln Highway, Exton. It will unite the efforts of over 1,000 local scouts and volunteers from Chester and Cecil Counties.

Organizers hope to “Pack the Truck” by filling a box truck with shelf-stable donations. The window of opportunity for public donations onsite is November 14-20.

In addition, the scouts will be canvassing their own neighborhoods for door-to-door collections during the same period.

Donors can either bring food to PARC or hand it to a scout on their doorstep.

November 20 is pack-the-truck day, when the supplies will be readied for transport to the needy in Chester County.

For inquiries, please contact Frank Donley by phone (610.696.2900 x 124) or email.

More information for youth and parents wanting to get involved in this Boy Scouts program is online.