• More than 20,000 Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and their volunteer leaders in the greater metro area will…
   
• Approach 500,000 homes…
   
• Requesting food donations.
   
• The food will be delivered to food shelves for distribution to needy families.

• In 2002, Scouts collected 469,883 pounds of food.
• In 2001, Scouts collected 494,698 pounds of food.

• Be waiting for the knock on your door.
   
• Select, in advance, canned goods you wish to donate. (Canned meats, soups, chili, peanut butter, and canned fruits and vegetables are appreciated.)
   
• Involve the children in your family in selecting an item (from your cupboard, or at the store) that they think a child their age would like, and add that to the family donation.

• Take a donation to a local food shelf yourself.   To locate a near-by food shelf, call Hunger Solutions Minnesota at 651-486-9860.
   
• Consider making a cash donation. Funds are needed to help fill out the nutritional complement to gathered foods.   Again, call Hunger Solutions Minnesota at 651-486-9860 for more details about this tax-deductible contribution.

• One out of 18 Minnesotans still use food shelves.
    
• Children comprise half of the food shelf recipients
    
• Among Minnesota households with children, one in every four reports having to miss meals due to lack of food.
    
• The average food shelf recipient uses a food shelf for 4 or 5 days a year.
    
• There are 300 food shelves in Minnesota, delivering about 19,000,000 pounds of food and supplies to the needy each year.

• Scouting for Food shows Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts how to put words into action. 
   
• The Boy Scout slogan is "Do a good turn daily."
   
• Preparation for April 27^th includes  meetings where scouts are taught about the problem of hunger in America.
   
• Scouting for Food helps youth realize they can help have an impact on community problems.
    
• This experience gives young people the chance to feel good about helping others. This value, when learned early in life, can become a life-long pattern.

• They are helping those in need…
   
• And they are providing positive reinforcement to 20,000 boys who are learning to help others.

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