Boy Scout food drive kicks off this weekend on Owatonna

OWATONNA — Got food?

Well, if you have some extra cans or boxes of food crowding your shelves, one local Boy Scout leader is urging you to give it away — for a worthy cause, of course.

On Saturday, Boy Scout troops from all over Steele County will be out in the county collecting food donations from people’s door steps beginning at 9:30 a.m. All donated food will be sent to the Steele County Food Shelf.

Tom Barry, district executive for the Game Haven Council (which oversees Steele, Dodge and Goodhue counties), said they are looking for a variety of different foods, including canned fruits and vegetables, soup, pasta and flour, to name a few.

“We hope that people have their food out by about 9 a.m. this weekend,” Barry said.

Last year, Barry said they collected 9,280 pounds worth of food. But to put it in perspective, the Steele County Food Shelf goes through about 40,000 pounds of food in a month.

“You think 9,000 pounds is a lot, but it only lasts them a week,” Barry said.

According to the latest figures from the Steele County Food Shelf, there have been more than 400,000 pounds of food given out to as many as 574 families so far this year.

Executive Director Stormy Trom said the number of families they’ve served lately makes up about 10 percent of the population in the county.

“As the need continues, we need the support and we are grateful for all the organizations coming forward and helping us,” Trom said.

If people miss putting out the food for Boy Scouts on Saturday, there will be two other drop-off sites. They include the Steele County Food Shelf or at the old Century 21 Building at 1836 Cedar Ave., located next to Godfather’s Pizza. Both drop-off sites will be open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

Trom added they are looking for additional volunteers to help sort food donations at the old Century 21 building and then bring it to the Steele County Food Shelf.

If people don’t have food to donate, Trom also said monetary donations help. Because the food shelf is a non-profit, Trom said the organization is able to pay for more items at a store compared to the average dollar.

Jeff Cagle can be reached at 444-2378.

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