Best Time for Scouting for Food

[mrkstvns]

Different councils run their Scouting for Food drives at different times of the year.

National Capital Area Council usually does theirs in the fall. Ditto Last Frontier Council, which will be passing out flyers Nov 2 and collecting cans Nov 9.

Sam Houston Area Council passes out flyers last weekend in January and collects cans first weekend in February.

I wonder what month is the MOST effective time to do it....do you rake in more donations early in the fall?  Or more in the middle of winter, after the holidays are over and done with?  

I wonder which council has the BIGGEST Scouting for Food drive....

[prof]

Given the strained relationship between Scouts BSA and the Girl Scouts, I wonder if this will continue to be a joint project.

[Cleveland Rocks]

3 hours ago, prof said:

Given the strained relationship between Scouts BSA and the Girl Scouts, I wonder if this will continue to be a joint project.

It depends on the GSUSA council.  Some councils have essentially told their membership to avoid us like the plague, while others don't care.

Our troop has done Scouting For Food drives for years on the weekends right after Thanksgiving. Each of the last two years, we've had Girl Scouts join us and haven't had any issues or pushback from the local GSUSA council. We plan on having them join us again this year.

[qwazse]

With us, it has nothing to do with more or less donations. It has to do with when our food bank (which is managed by our CO) really needs it.

So typically our pack collects in the fall; our troop, in the spring. That usually syncs up well with Thanksgiving/Easter times when families would like to be able to put a little more on the table.

I don't know what you mean by "biggest". Some councils cover a wider area. Some have more members. Some food banks have more clients. So, we can talk about items/pounds per member, items/pounds per square mile, or items/pounds per persons or households served. There might be a numbers wonk who keeps track of stuff, but we're dealing with a voluntary reporting system. I doubt we'll ever have comparable stats across the country.

[MikeS72]

We generally do very well as a district, and are hoping that we will do even better this year, since Scouting For Food is no longer the same week as our school district food drive.  When we are trying to go door to door, and students from 87 school are bringing donation to class every day the same week it gets tough.

[5thGenTexan]

We seem to try to find the coldest wettest weekend in Feb to do it. 🤣

[RememberSchiff]

2 minutes ago, 5thGenTexan said:

We seem to try to find the coldest wettest weekend in Feb to do it. 🤣

In Northeast, Feb and Mar seem to be the months with the greatest need. 

Edited October 25, 2019 by RememberSchiff

[MattR]

We  do it in Feb, when the food bank says they need it most. Our council wants us to do it in Nov, so it matches up with the council in Denver and we get more press. Go figure.

[5thGenTexan]

Interestingly...   Last year we crossed paths with the local food pantry manager who mentioned they had all the green beans and corn they could handle, and couldnt give it away.  What they really needed was more protein based foods.  My families donation usually includes packs of canned chicken, peanut butter, dried pasta.  

 

We also usually have a huge pile of expired items that have to go directly to the trash.  

 

 

[HashTagScouts]

Our "suggested" weekends in Ma are the same as yours.  The area councils try to be banded together for those dates, as the Boston based media promotes it for us.  I would say that November is a time of need, but the food pantry in my town has said they get a lot of donations that time of year and would rather we did February, as donations dip after the holidays.

[Mom2Scout]

My troop is in NCAC, so we will do it next weekend and the following will be picking up.

Has everyone else switched over to those tags?  Last year, we noticed a steep decline in houses who put out food.  We think it is because the bag is more of a visual reminder to put out food than a tag is.  Those sticky note things fell off of doors, mailboxes, etc. They just did not stick well in the colder weather at all. 

[RememberSchiff]

Best Time for Scouting for Food?  Just ahead of expiration of SNAP benefits.

...About 1.6 million North Carolinians received SNAP benefits in 2022, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. More than 69% are in families with children.

"I'm worried that a lot of families will be blindsided by this change, said Emily Johnston, a fellow with the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy.

"This is going to significantly change the way that families receiving benefits access food and change the way that families have to budget and prioritize," she said.

Many food pantries have begun to stock up in anticipation of higher demand in March as the extra benefits expire.

Tina Postel, CEO of Loaves & Fishes/Friendship Trays of Mecklenburg County, said her organization felt well-positioned after local Boy Scouts donated more than 200,000 pounds from their recent "Scouting for Food" drive.

"I'm not in panic mode right now thanks to those Boy Scouts, but I will tell you, we are definitely trying to make sure our warehouse is well stocked with food to meet that demand," she said.

Source:

https://www.wfae.org/charlotte-area/2023-02-27/extra-snap-benefits-are-ending-in-nc-food-pantries-are-stocking-up

[nolesrule]

@RememberSchiff nice to see our efforts here in Mecklenburg are providing a positive to a difficult situation. We've been seeing year over year increases in in our Scouting for Food collection and I hope that continues.

 

[DannyG]

Our unit is attached to food pantry who collects our Scouting for Food donations.

Short answer: They always need food. It doesn't matter when.

Long answer: They conduct their own drive in November-December to stock up for the holidays/winter. Our council runs Scouting for Food in March, so it helps them restock. They are happy if we do it whenever!