Scouting for Food drive will be held in Barton County Saturday. Scouts will collect items at local food markets from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
The scouts are asking the local community to help them help feed families. The community is asked to bring items to bring supplies for the food banks to their local markets in Great Bend Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.  
Scouts will be outside collecting items that will be delivered to the Barton County food bank locations. This year, the scouts will be located at Dillons (Main Street and 10th Street locations), Walmart, Family Dollar, and Dollar General (10th Street).
Scouts from units Pack 149, Troop 149, Pack 157, Troop 157, Pack 184, and Troop 184 will collect items in Great Bend. Pack 158 and Troop 153 will collect items in Ellinwood. Pack 130 and Troop 130 will collect items in Hoisington.
If you are unable to donate items on Saturday, but would still like to participate, call 620-793-9208 to arrange pick-up of items.  A local Boy Scout in your area will be glad to pick items from your doorstep and deliver them to the food bank.
The scouting program promotes helping others.  The scouts learn that a “Good Turn” is more than simple good manners; it is a special act of kindness.
In fact, Boy Scouts of America started in America over 100 years ago because of a special act of kindness from a scout in England to an American that had been lost in the streets of London. Those acts of kindness continue today in America as the Scouting Slogan in “Do a Good Turn Daily”. Service is an integral part of the scouting program as boys become future leaders of America.
In preparation for the food drive, representatives of Great Bend Boy Scout units toured the Great Bend Food Bank Oct. 11.  
Each unit had a scout volunteer at the food bank to learn more about the food bank, its procedures, and what the scouts can do to help others in our community in preparation for the Scouting for Food drive held annually by all scouts across America.  Kanza District in the Quivira Council of Boy Scouts of America participates during October. Quivira Council scouts will help their local communities by collecting items for local food bank in 30 counties during October.
Evelyn Essmiller, Great Food Bank volunteer visited with the scouts while they visited.
She commented that “The food bank looks forward to the scouting food drive; it is one of the most important food drives.”  
The scouts learned that the food bank is fortunate to keep their costs down by being able to be tenants rent-free.  Many of the volunteers come from the Barton County Association of Churches which each church provides volunteers for one month out of the year.
On a typical month, the food bank has 50 volunteers helping. It does have one paid employee to manage the office that is paid by the hour, but the rest are volunteers.  The food bank is also an affiliate with the Kansas Food Bank which helps them provide services to its clients. Because of this affiliation, they receive extra donations from Wal-Mart and Dillons of limited perishable items.  Kansas Food Bank also requires them to follow procedures that ensure food safety.
Essmiller asked the scouts how they felt when they are hungry.
Some of the scouts responses were, “It doesn’t feel good in your stomach”, and “That no one cares about you”.  
She explained that is why the food bank is a necessary part of our community. She gave examples of family situations where there might hunger in their homes such as families living on a limited income when their car breaks down or have been sick for an extended period, or even when a family may have experience a fire that destroyed their home.  
The food bank is there to help them in these temporary situations.  Families can be assisted up to 4 times a year; however there has to be two weeks between each visit. One of the most important parts of the food bank is the time that is spent with the people as the volunteers take time to listen to their stories. Some families may have to decide between feeding their families and buying medicine.
A total of 815 people were fed through food bank services in the month of July through the Great Bend food bank.
July has been the busiest month so far in the year 2013, and it is estimated that they will provide assistance to 6,000 to 7,000 in the year 2013.  
More recent efforts have been made to go out to areas such as Cedar Park to check with those residents to see if they need assistance. Some residents may be on a limited income and don’t have the transportation to get to the food bank to receive the assistance they need.
When clients first arrive at the food bank, they must first begin with a process interview. Then they get to select from a “menu” based on family size.  Some of the categories on the list include, vegetables/fruit, pasta, soups, cereal, and hygiene/cleaning products.  
The scouts toured the different rooms that stored the wide variety of items at the food bank.  Large refrigerator/freezers contain items such as milk, eggs, and meat. The rooms resembled a small grocery store.  Items that don’t require cooking are given to the homeless. Evelyn stated, “Yes, even in Great Bend we have homeless. Some are living out of their cars”.   Overall, basic things are most needed, items you use every day.
Your local scouts appreciate the participation of the whole community to help others during the 2013 Scouting for Food drive.