CALDWELL, Idaho — The Boy Scouts of America are helping fight hunger in Idaho and you can help, too, with a simple donation — Boy Scouts will be collecting food across southwest Idaho this Saturday, Nov. 9 for "Scouting for Food," one of Idaho’s largest annual food drives.
Volunteers across the Treasure, Magic, and Wood River Valleys will collect food donations from doorsteps in designated neighborhoods, and also open more than 10 food drop-off sites starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
If you received a flyer about "Scouting for Food" at your house, you can leave a donation outside your front door for the Boy Scouts to pick up. If you didn't, you can still donate at a drop-off site, which includes Caldwell City Hall, the Idaho Food Bank in Meridian, the Meridian and Eagle Food Banks, the St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry in Boise and more.
Some of the most needed items include canned proteins, shelf-stable dairy products, pantry staples like oil and flour, and personal care items — a full list of the needed donations can be found here.
"And it can help people have this food box, and maybe that helps them put money on a different bill or something else that maybe there is not much assistance for. With the cost of living has gotten so high, just the cost of food makes it harder and harder to sustain and have healthy items for their families," said Caldwell Salvation Army Corps Officer Amy Lewis.
Food donations will go to The Idaho Foodbank and other food pantry partners, such as the Salvation Army.