NUTLEY – On Saturday, April 4th, local Boy Scout troops and Cub Scout packs (working in conjunction with the Nutley Rotary Club) will be conducting a food drive for the Nutley Food Pantry, which is at the Red Cross office in Nutley. Also, personal care collection for the care pantry at Vincent United Methodist Church will be colledted. Some suggestions for food donations are: stew, chili, hash, tuna, chunky soups, pasta, pasta sauce, rice, macaroni and cheese, canned vegetables, canned fruit, peanut butter, jelly, hot/cold cereal, coffee, tea, and baby formula/food. The Red Cross accepts all non-perishable groceries, but not expired cans, so please check expiration dates before donating items.
The need this time of the year is especially great. During February the local pantry served 582 people including 195 children. Over 5,000 food items were required. This is an increase of 60 percent over February, 2008. The Red Cross Chapters is also participating in the Feinstein Foundation challenge which divides $1,000,000 among hunger fighting agencies based on the amount of food and monetary donations raised during March and April. The food pantry at the Red Cross in Nutley is the eighth largest in New Jersey.
The campaign is launched on "Bag Distribution Day" the weekend of March 29 when Scouts distribute bags to residences in Nutley. The Scouts return to residences on the following week, "Bag Collection Day," to retrieve the bags filled with donated non-perishable items. If a scout does not contact a home, donations may be dropped off at the Red Cross on Chestnut Street on March 4 between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Within 48 hours of the Scouts' pick-up, the donations will be on pantry shelves on Chestnut Street ready to feed the needy.
Scouts and Rotarians will also be outside Nutley Park ShopRite on the April 4 to accept donations from residents.
Scouting for Food is the nation’s largest single-day food drive. Scouting for Food began as a service project for the St. Louis Area Council in 1985 and was adopted by the National Organization in 1988 when one million Scouts collected an estimated 65 million cans of nonperishable food. This year marks the 21st year of this great event. Every year, thousands of scouts and adult volunteers spend two Saturdays doing a “good turn.”
Across the country, in many councils and districts, thousands of troops and packs with millions of scouts involved collect tens of millions of pounds of food which is distributed to needy neighbors. Scouting for Food is the nation's largest one-day food drive, raising 15 percent of area food pantries' yearly supply and feeding the hungry in the community for three months.
The need this time of the year is especially great. During February the local pantry served 582 people including 195 children. Over 5,000 food items were required. This is an increase of 60 percent over February, 2008. The Red Cross Chapters is also participating in the Feinstein Foundation challenge which divides $1,000,000 among hunger fighting agencies based on the amount of food and monetary donations raised during March and April. The food pantry at the Red Cross in Nutley is the eighth largest in New Jersey.
The campaign is launched on "Bag Distribution Day" the weekend of March 29 when Scouts distribute bags to residences in Nutley. The Scouts return to residences on the following week, "Bag Collection Day," to retrieve the bags filled with donated non-perishable items. If a scout does not contact a home, donations may be dropped off at the Red Cross on Chestnut Street on March 4 between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Within 48 hours of the Scouts' pick-up, the donations will be on pantry shelves on Chestnut Street ready to feed the needy.
Scouts and Rotarians will also be outside Nutley Park ShopRite on the April 4 to accept donations from residents.
Scouting for Food is the nation’s largest single-day food drive. Scouting for Food began as a service project for the St. Louis Area Council in 1985 and was adopted by the National Organization in 1988 when one million Scouts collected an estimated 65 million cans of nonperishable food. This year marks the 21st year of this great event. Every year, thousands of scouts and adult volunteers spend two Saturdays doing a “good turn.”
Across the country, in many councils and districts, thousands of troops and packs with millions of scouts involved collect tens of millions of pounds of food which is distributed to needy neighbors. Scouting for Food is the nation's largest one-day food drive, raising 15 percent of area food pantries' yearly supply and feeding the hungry in the community for three months.
