The recent Scouting for Food drive was extremely successful, said Bob Wright, Scouting District Commissioner for the Franklin District.
Although 10,540 pounds of food were brought in to the Preston Community Food Pantry on West Oneida on Saturday, March 17, another 500 pounds trickled in during the following week, said pantry director Steve Aust.
The drive involved troops from 27 different wards of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Between 9:15 a.m. and 11:15 p.m., approximately 80 adults and over 250 Scouts delivered the food and helped to organize it at the pantry.
“This was the largest single day donation that the Preston Community Food Pantry has ever received,” said Aust. “The food gathered will probably last us about three months. It makes all the difference in the world.”
The pantry now serves clients once helped by Southeastern Idaho Community Action Agency (SEICCA) “so we have more clients and are giving out more food,” said Aust.
Aust is thrilled with the generosity shown through this food drive.
“It has been incredible. I’m really pleased,” he said, and yet he looks forward to the food drive conducted by the postal services in May and hopes people with the ability to provide eggs, milk, and meat will be aware of the need for those commodities.
He also said he is thankful for the many volunteers that run the center.
“You should have seen that. We had a swarm of volunteers– Scouts and non-Scouts. We had piles and piles of bags,” said Aust.
