I would like to thank all of the scouts and parents of Troop 98 for a fantastic job with Scouting for Food. On the first Saturday, with help from Pack 98, Pack 128, and the Alpha Phi Omega chapter at St. Louis University, we distributed bags to an area stretching from Parkview in the west to Vandeventer in the east, and from Delmar to Forest Park Parkway, with additional areas along I-44 (near where the Arena used to be) and just north of Delmar and Union. On the second weekend, we collected 250-300 boxes of food from this area, while the Vandeventer Fire Station as a whole accumulated 363 boxes. While this was down from last year (when the station accumulated a whooping 444 boxes), it was on par with most recent years.

Scouting for Food started in 1986 in the St. Louis Council as an Eagle project for an area scout. Now, 25 years later, it is the nation' largest 1-day food drive. The scouts who participated should be proud of their efforts. For the entire St. Louis Area Council, more than 30,000 Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and Venturers helped collect about 2.1 million cans of food during the 2009 Scouting for Food drive. In the 25 years of Scouting for Food in the St. Louis area, more than 41 million cans of food have been collected. Food collected in St. Louis City and County was taken to area fire stations for packaging and then to the St. Louis Area Food Bank.

Again, my sincere thanks to the parents and scouts who help make the drive a success every year! And special thanks to Ralph Wafer, who organizes the event for Troop 98, ensuring that all I need to do is show up and get the troop going on the two days of the event.

Paul Winter
Scoutmaster
Troop 98