Scouting for Food event in Lovettsville

By Robert Talbot

BSA Troops 962-B and 962-G, Cub Scout Pack 962, and local Girl Scout groups heralded a spirit of holiday charity with their Scouting for Food event in Lovettsville. Every first Saturday of November, the organizations collaborated to hang flyers on front doors throughout the town, asking for donations of non-perishable food items. 

A week later, they collected donations and transported them to the Western Loudoun Food Pantry. The pantry, run by the New Jerusalem Lutheran Church, works directly with people in need to supply them with food and other necessities. This year, the Lovettsville Scouting for Food event raised 3,315 pounds of food for the pantry.

The Scouts appreciate the experience far more than the opportunity to earn service hours. They find it rewarding to raise awareness of local hunger, a largely unnoticed issue. It is rewarding for the Scouts to see the Town of Lovettsville show its full support. “You never see an ad for this kind of effort,” said Scout Ian Murphy. “Nobody does it like we do.”

Much of the Scouts’ work occurs behind the scenes. In recent years, they have helped the pantry staff sort food donations as they come in, which all agree is the most difficult part of the event. 

“We have to organize food items by kind and expiration date. We usually spend two hours just sitting in chairs marking the expiration on each,” said Murphy. According to Damien Titus, “However, watching the pounds add up, seeing our success in how much food we got, was the favorite part for those who helped sort.” 

Trudging door-to-door in the chilly morning air, coordinating to make sure all streets are covered, loading donations into pickup trucks, and weighing and sorting the food, is no small task. However, this is one of the Scouts’ favorite yearly events. 

“It makes the community realize what’s going on in other people’s lives and makes them want to help other people,” said Jude Kemp. Scouts recognize this time of year as a unique opportunity to spread Scout spirit to the outside world and inspire people to unite for a good cause.