Some 40,000 Utah Boy Scouts and 15,000 leaders collected 1.8 million pounds for the Utah Food Bank Network during last weekend's Scouting for Food drive.
As a climax to the 15th annual food drive, Scout leaders presented a ceremonial check to the Utah Food Bank for $1,937,000 Thursday morning as a representation of the dollar value of the amount of food collected.
"I think it's a wonderful event," said Paul Tikalsky, director of finance and marketing for the Great Salt Lake Council of the Boy Scouts. "It's a great good turn that young men and leaders do. What a good thing to teach young kids about giving."
Statewide, the 1.8 million pounds of food collected fell short of the Utah goal of 2.5 million pounds. However, Utah food banks had reported critically low supplies and so the food is a big asset at this time of the year.