Scouting For Food Information
Welcome to the home page for the Wellesley Scouting for Food
Drive - all the information about this important Scouting project is available
here.
The Scouting for Food project is essential to stocking the Wellesley Food Pantry’s shelves – about 75% of the food donated to the Pantry each year comes from this very important food drive. Because the number of registered clients using the Food Pantry has increased 45% this past year, Scouting for Food is more important than ever before! We thank you all in advance for your generosity, both to those donating food and those making sure it gets to the Food Pantry.
NEW! Routes are have been assigned! Please go to the main Route page and download your route(s)!
NEW! Food Pantry Flyer can be downloaded
NEW! Map of the entire town of Wellesley with all Scouting For Food Route #s labeled (pdf)
Frequently-Asked Questions (FAQs):
Since 1986, Wellesley Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Girl Scouts have participated in Scouting’s National “Good Turn”, the “Scouting for Food” program. Our Scouts join 3 million other scouts nationwide to collect food to feed the hungry. All the food we collect will go to the Wellesley Food Pantry to help feed those in our community who rely on the Pantry. The Scouting for Food project is essential to stocking the Wellesley Food Pantry’s shelves – about 75% of the food donated to the Pantry each year comes from this very important food drive. Because the number of registered clients using the Food Pantry has increased 45% this past year, Scouting for Food is more important than ever before! We thank you all in advance for your generosity, both to those donating food and those making sure it gets to the Food Pantry.
How does Scouting for Food work?
The Scouts will drop empty plastic grocery bags from Roche Brothers and a flyer from the Food Pantry at Wellesley houses on Saturday, November 7. They will return to pick up these bags the following week on Saturday, November 14. We ask everyone who receives a bag to fill it with food for the Wellesley Food Pantry. The flyer will have a list of items that the Wellesley Food Pantry particularly needs.
Bag drop off is Saturday, November 7, 2009.
Bag pick up is Saturday, November 14, 2009 after 9 AM and before 1 PM.
What does the Wellesley Food Pantry need? What should we avoid?
Every year, the Food Pantry makes a list of specific foods and supplies that are needed in greatest demand—this list is printed on a flyer that will be inside the plastic Roche Brothers grocery bag. This year, the list includes rice, macaroni-and-cheese, canned fruit, canned vegetables, canned meats and fish, stews, ravioli, pasta and sauce, vegetable oils, mayonnaise, Progresso chicken soup, peanut butter, jelly, and cereal. Laundry detergent, bar soap, toilet paper, and paper towels are also requested. The Food Pantry cannot accept expired food, food in glass containers, or food that is perishable.
If a Scout has left a bag at my house, when should I put out the bag and where should I put it?
Please leave the bag in a place which is visible from the street before 9 AM on Saturday, November 14. The Scout who left the bag should return to pick it up between 9AM and 1 PM. The Scout will not ring your doorbell nor enter your house. The empty bags will be recycled at the RDF.
What should I do if no one has picked up my bag?
Please call the phone number that the Scout has written on your flyer and remind him/her to pick it up. You can also drop the bag at Roche Brothers in the Wellesley Food Pantry box located near the checkout area, or bring the bag to the Food Pantry (207 Washington St.) on Monday morning between 9-11 AM.
Who are the Scouting for Food Town Coordinators?
Debbie Krieg: 781-431-2393 or deblkrieg@gmail.com
Ann Rappaport: 781-237-6864 or ann@rappaport.us
How are houses being assigned this year?
The Scouting for Food Town Coordinators have divided Wellesley into 378 routes of roughly 20 houses each. A page for each specific route will be downloadable from the Troop 185 website. Each route page contains a list of houses on that route and a map of their locations. “Routes” rather than “territories” will now be the basis for assigning houses to scouts, making the yearly allocation of houses much more flexible.
How many houses will each Scout visit?
Each elementary school Scout will be responsible for one route of about 20 houses. Older Scouts will be given 1-2 routes. If routes are still unassigned, Scouts will be asked to volunteer for those remaining routes. Our goal is to have the Wellesley Scouts visit each house in town.
What do the Scouting for Food Town Coordinators do?
(1) Assign specific blocks of routes to each of the Wellesley Scouting Groups (Cub Scout Packs, Boy Scout Troops and Girl Scouts) by mid October.
(2) If all routes have not been assigned, post the unassigned routes on the Troop 185 website by mid October and ask for volunteers to cover additional routes.
(3) Give plastic bags to each Scouting for Food Coordinator before October 24.
What does the Scouting Group leader do?
By the end of September (as soon as possible), each Scouting Group leader should report to Debbie Krieg at deblkrieg@gmail.com
(1) The number of members who will be participating in Scouting for Food.
(2) The name(s) and email address(es) of their Scouting for Food Coordinators.
What do the Scouting for Food Coordinators for each Scouting Group do?
(1) Verify the total number of scouts participating in Scouting for Food by October 9.
(2) If Scouts are in Grades K-5, give Debbie the breakdown of the group by elementary school district, also by October 9. This will help ensure that Debbie and Ann will be able to give elementary age Scouts routes near their homes. Older scouts will not necessarily be given home territory. No scout is guaranteed to get the route on which his or her house is located.
(3) After receiving the block of specific routes from Debbie and Ann by mid October, match Scouts to routes, taking care to give youngest Scouts the routes which are nearest their homes. There should be no need to “tinker” with the routes or count houses as in the past, which should greatly reduce the time needed for this job.
(4) Encourage Scouts to volunteer for more routes, particularly if additional scouts have joined the group. Send specific route requests to Ann Rappaport at ann@rappaport.us by October 20.
(4) By the weekend of October 24-25, download the Scouting for Food Flyer from the Troop 185 website and makes copies for every house in his/her block of routes.
(5) By the weekend of October 24-25, give each Scout his/her allotment of plastic bags and Scouting for Food Flyers. Remind the Scouts to put their first names and phone numbers on each flyer.
(6) By the weekend of October 24-25, make sure that each scout has a copy of his/her route(s), which are also downloadable from the Troop 185 website.
What does the Scout do before dropping off the bags on November 7?
(1) Makes sure he/she has a bag and Scouting for Food flyer for each house on his/her route(s).
(2) Downloads a map of his/her route(s) if the Scouting for Food Coordinator has not given him one.
(3) Writes his/her phone number and first name (only) on the flyer.
How can Scouts get a copy of the Food Pantry Flyer?
The flyer is now available in pdf format and can easily be downloaded and printed.
How can Scouts download their route(s)?
After blocks of routes have been assigned by Debbie and Ann, the list of routes will be posted on this website. Next to each route will be an indication of which Scouting Group is responsible for covering it. A downloadable (pdf) page for each route will also be available, which will include: (1) a listing of the specific houses by street address, (2) locations of those houses (with respect to cross streets) and (3) an appropriate section of the Wellesley zoning map with each house on the route labeled.
Unassigned routes (if any) will also be posted so that Scouts may volunteer for specific additional routes.
Do Scouts drop bags at apartments, condos, or commercial buildings?
No, Scouts only go to single family residences. Scouts should not ring doorbells nor should they go inside buildings.
What time should Scouts pick up the bags?
Scouts should pick up bags after 9 AM and before 1 PM on November 14. The earlier a Scout is able to get the donated food to the Pantry, the better. But Scouts should not pick up bags before 9 AM – if they do, some bags on their route(s) will probably be missed.
Although the instructions on the handout ask that people not donate food in glass jars, some may. The Scouts should be careful with the donation bags so glass does not break and make a mess or possibly hurt people.
Where should Scouts take the bags?
Bags of food should be delivered to the Food Pantry at the Wellesley Congregational Church at 207 Washington St. (Route 16 near Route 9). Scouts dropping off food should either get in line along the curb outside the Food Pantry entrance, where there will be other scouts available to help unload cars OR plan to park in the Congregational Church parking lot to the left and carry the food into the Pantry. Food which is unable to be delivered to the Food Pantry by 1 PM should be taken to Roche Brothers and put in the Food Pantry box located near the checkout area, or brought to the Food Pantry (207 Washington St.) on Monday morning between 9-11 AM.
What should a Scout do if unable to drop off and/or pick up his bags?
It is very important that each Scout pick up at every house where he/she dropped off a bag. In past years, we have had streets where nobody came to pick up the filled bags. This does not help the Food Pantry, and it doesn’t help the Scout image. It is the Scout’s responsibility to find someone to help if he is unable to drop off the bags and/or pick them up. It is permissible for two (or more) scouts to work together to cover all the houses in their territories. Occasionally, one scout has dropped off the bags and his/her partner has picked them up. Sometimes Scouts do multiple routes as a group. As long as all houses are covered, Scouting for Food Coordinators can choose whatever method of dropping off and picking up bags works best for their group.
Last updated 10/12/09 AWR