VALATIE - Valatie Boy Scout Troop 2114 and Valatie/Niverville Cub Scout Pack 2117 delivered three pickup truckloads of sorted, donated food to the Valatie Food Pantry Nov. 9, where it will be distributed to people in need in the Ichabod Crane school district.
The Scouting for Food drive is a national initiative to collect food for needy people. Bags are distributed by Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts, and a week later, the scouts return to pick up bags set out with non-perishable food in them. The food is then sorted by the scouts, and is taken to places where it can be distributed to people that need it. For the communities of Valatie, Niverville, and North Chatham, Boy Scouts from Troop 2114 distributed food bags to homes in Valatie and Niverville on Nov. 2, where people were encouraged to donate non-perishable food items. Cub Scouts from Pack 2117 then collected bags on Nov. 9, bringing them to the Niverville Church where they were sorted by the Troop 2114 Boy Scouts and Pack 2117 Cubs. It was then boxed, and delivered to the Valatie food pantry. This year, an estimated 600 bags of food were picked up, resulting in 3 pickup trucks stacked with boxes of sorted food.
Boy Scout Troop 2114 Scoutmaster Rich Slovak was surprised by the amount of food picked up this year. “We just about doubled our intake from last year,” Slovak stated. Slovak also added how the work, while hard, is rewarding. “When the boys delivered the food and got a tour of the food pantry explaining where the food goes, they were even prouder of their accomplishment,” Slovak added. Cubmaster Erin Everett agreed, adding “Scouting for food is a wonderful experience. We are so thankful for the generous donations from the community, and the hard work from not only our Scouts but also their families.”
Pat DiGrigoli, who manages the Valatie Food Pantry, was pleasantly surprised by the amount of food. “We were astounded by the amount of food collected. We are so grateful for both the Scouts and the Community for the donations,” she stated.