Scouting for Food

The Scouting for Food Drive began as a National Good Turn in 1988 and the tradition continues every year at the Garden State Council!

The food drive, which collects non-perishable items, provides much-needed resources to help fight hunger in our communities. One out of five children and one out of every twelve households with seniors go hungry in New Jersey and an estimated 900,000 people rely on food banks just to survive.

All Scouting units are encouraged to participate in the annual Scouting for Food Drive community service initiative.

2024 Event Details

Scouting for Food is a 4-step process.

Step 1: Notify your community on the second Saturday of November using the Door Hangers we can supply to you. Request your door hangers using the “Order Door Hangers” button, below.

Step 2: Return to the same houses one week later and collect their donations.

Step 3: Deliver all non-expired donations to a food bank. Don’t have one nearby? Download the Leader’s Guide, which contains our list of nearby partner locations.

Step 4: Report your service using our form.

Door Hanger Distribution: Nov. 9

Donation Collection: Nov. 16

Unit Leaders: Get this year’s Scouting for Food patch for your Scouts when you use one of our partner drop-off locations and report your results to Garden State Council representatives on-site!

Or, use your local food bank and submit your service results using our online form by midnight Monday, November 18 and patches will be available for pick-up.

Reporting Your Impact: Unit Leaders, click the button below to share your Scouting for Food success with Council. Remember that when reporting your volunteer hours, don’t do the math! Simply report the number of volunteers in each category and the number of hours your group spent on Scouting for Food. The Reporting Tool will do the math for you for total volunteer hours!

Our Food Bank Partners

Donated items can be given to your local food pantry, if you have one.

We are also working with the Food Bank of South Jersey and the Community Food Bank of New Jersey to provide drop-off locations throughout our Council area. These locations will be open with volunteers ready to accept your collected items on November 18. Download the Leaders’ Guide for locations.