Get your canned goods ready for Scouting for Food

The blue plastic bags will appear soon on doorsteps across the metro-east and St. Louis, as the Boy Scouts launch Scouting for Food again.

The food drive begins Nov. 11 with the dispersal of 1.3 million Scouting for Food bags tied to doors throughout 51 counties in Missouri and Illinois. On Nov. 18, the Scouts will return to collect the bags filled with food donations.

Last year, the Greater St. Louis Area Council gathered a record 2.25 million food items in the largest one-day food drive in the Boy Scouts of America. It was estimated that the food collected on this single day was enough to provide 590,000 meals.

The canned goods in Missouri are delivered to the St. Louis Area Food Bank for distribution through 500 partner agencies. In southeast Missouri and in Illinois, the Scouts deliver the food directly to local food pantries.

For more information on Scouting for Food, visit sff.stlbsa.org. If you do not receive a bag and want to donate food, take canned food donations to any Goodwill store from Nov. 19 to 25.

This story was originally published November 2, 2017 at 7:18 PM with the headline "Get your canned goods ready for Scouting for Food."