By Chéye Roberson
Sentinel Correspondent
During last Saturday’s Scouting for Food drive, the Boys Scouts of Greenwich set a goal of collecting two tons of food in one day for the clients of Neighbor to Neighbor. Not only did the Scouts reach their goal; they surpassed it.
It was a town-wide effort. Scouts were collecting food at Stop and Shop and Acme Market on West Putnam Avenue, Kings Food Market in Old Greenwich, the Sound Beach Volunteer Fire Station, Glenville Fire Station, and the Cos Cob Fire Station.
At the supermarkets, the Scouts handed out flyers with information about the food drive and Neighbor to Neighbor. The Scouts also picked up bags of donations from participating homes throughout the town and rounded up donations at the fire stations before moving them to Neighbor. Five hundred dollars in donations were collected along with the crates of food.
“It was a great day,” said the Scouting executive for the Boy Scouts Greenwich Council, Kevin O’Shea. “We had food crates piled up to the ceiling.”
Seventeen Scout packs and troops participated in the food drive, meaning that 90 percent of the Boy Scout units volunteered. Scouting for Food was held from 10 to 11:30 a.m. By the end of the morning, the Scouts had collected 170 crates filled with food. That is equivalent to two and a half tons.
The food was separated at the fire stations and then brought to Neighbor to Neighbor. The Scouting for Food drive was coordinated by Heather Lowthert, the program director for the Boys Scouts Greenwich Council. State Rep. Fred Camillo paid a visit to the Cos Cob fire station and helped cart the food out of cars and into Neighbor to Neighbor, which is based at Christ Episcopal Church.
“It’s really a great cause,” said Camillo. “Neighbor to Neighbor is a wonderful organization. The Scouts are great to recognize that and collect food for those going through a tough time.”
Camillo is the honorary chair of Scouting for Food and he tries to be involved every year.
“It was a pleasure to be there and see how hard they worked—the parents, the Scouts—and they deserve the praise for getting it done,” Camillo said. “Heather did a great job organizing it with everyone else.
“The Boy Scouts and Neighbor to Neighbor have been doing a lot together for a long time.”
Guy Pettiford, the food coordinator at Neighbor to Neighbor, said, “the Boy Scouts are one of the organizations we really love having come around,” because of the hard work and dedication they put into volunteering.
According to Pettiford, the Boys Scouts plan the food drive during the time of year that donations to Neighbor to Neighbor usually decrease, after the spirit of giving that comes with the holiday season has passed.
“Winter is a good season. It’s around holiday season and people have holiday spirit, so they give. The Boy Scouts do the food drive when they know we’re slow.”
According to O’Shea, the scouts recognize that people are in need of the extra help throughout the year.
“It’s something we do the first Saturday of March every year,” said O’Shea. “One thing we found is that a lot of people do drives around Thanksgiving, and people need food around this time as well—and throughout the year.”
The Boy Scouts were happy they were able to contribute to Neighbor to Neighbor’s cause and recognize that there are residents of Greenwich in need.
“Their shelving systems can get things like milk on a regular basis, but they need community support to get canned items and peanut butter and jelly,” said Bennet Hawley, 14. “A lot of people in Greenwich don’t recognize that there’s another aspect of Greenwich, and there are people in need.”
Scouting for Food represented the very heart of what the Scouts are about.
“‘Do a good turn daily,’ that’s the Boy Scout slogan,” said Trevor Webb, 16, who has volunteered for Neighbor to Neighbor since he was a little Cub Scout. “It means doing something without expecting anything in return. It’s nice to give and help keep people healthy and happy. It’s the right thing to do.”
