Scouting for Food is a nationwide event. Depending on which BSA council a troop is associated with, this event occurs at different times of the year. On the Key Peninsula, it’s held in November to help families get a feast in time for Thanksgiving. Scouting for Food takes place on two consecutive weekends. On the first weekend, scouts distribute bags to let people know about the drive. On the second, scouts revisit those houses to pick up bags full of canned food, pasta, peanut butter, juice, and other nonperishable items. In recent years Troop 220 has collected over 2,000 pounds of food that people have left to be donated.

All the food is donated to Key Peninsula Community Services and gets handed out to people in need across the peninsula. This year, the generous members of the Key Peninsula community donated over 2,600 pounds of food. Even though this may seem like a lot of food, it’s only enough to last a week and a half. When asked how they felt about the event, there was a general hum of assent among the scouts that they enjoyed the event and being able to help their community. 

Families can go to Key Peninsula Community Services (KPCS) two times a month to get the food they need. When you walk through the doors of the food bank, you get a list of all the food they have in stock. The list lets you know which items aren’t available and which are low in stock. There are boxes next to the items and you write the number of items you want to take with you to let the staff know what you hve in your cart. Around Thanksgiving time, the food bank offers a Turkey Bag with all the fixings for a Thanksgiving feast: mashed potatoes, gravy, a turkey, and more. Every week the staff go to stores such as Target, Safeway, Albertsons, Fred Meyer, and Costco to gather food that will stock KPCS’s shelves. The food they collect on these weekly runs is worth $1,500 to $2,800. All the food gathered by the food bank doesn’t stay on their shelves for long, which is why the staff at Key Peninsula Community Services is so grateful for the contribution the scouts and community make every year.

The number to contact Key Peninsula Community Services is 253-884-4440.