The Great Salt Lake and Utah National Parks Councils of the Boy Scouts of America set a record and saved Utah taxpayers $1,735,702 on Saturday, according to Kay Godfrey, professional scouter for the Great Salt Lake Council.
More than 28,000 Scouts, with the help of their leaders, collected 5131/2 tons of food in their eighth annual `Scouting for Food' event."The people of Utah were very generous," Godfrey said.
The event actually started Feb. 25 when empty bags were hand-delivered to Utah homes from Kaysville to St. George.
The food was gathered to 22 drop-off sites, counted, and packed into boxes before it was transported to the Utah Food Bank by members of the Army National Guard.
"This is a lot more fun than it is hard work," said Ben Anderson, 11, from troop 587 in Salt Lake City. "We take turns going out and getting the food and then packing it. It's a lot of fun."
"This is the biggest collection of the year," said Terry Haslam, chief warrant officer for the Utah National Guard. "Without this one the food bank wouldn't make it through the year."
The National Guard transported the food with 23 trucks and the help of 78 members of the Army National Guard and 8 members of the Air National Guard.
Until last year the Scouts did their drive during the holiday season. The food bank gets so many generous donations during the holidays, it asked the Scouts to move their drive to the spring, according to Brenda Thompson, director of the Utah Food Bank.
"The Scouts were nervous about changing the date because they wanted to do a good job," Thompson said. "But last year they set an all-time record collecting 600,000 pounds."
The drive has gone more smoothly this year with the food bank in its new building. "Last year the old building was so small we had to borrow warehouse space," Thompson said.
The food bank gets a lot of corporate donations, but it's usually a truckload of one item. "When we have food drives we get a variety so we can give out a balanced, nutritious meal. We really need protein, things like canned meats, tuna, beans, or chunky stews," said Thompson.
"This is my favorite day of the year," said Mike Lubbers, food drive chairman for the Scouts.