SCOUTING FOR FOOD BENEFITS CITY'S NEEDY

Boy Scouts and bags of canned goods poured out of a brown van inside the 4-H Pavilion at Arena Park Saturday, a sight that elicited smiles from Assistant Scoutmaster Bob Hoppmann.

"How much do you guys have for us?" asked Hoppmann, who is the Scouting For Food campaign chairman. "We've got a bunch," shouted one of the Boy Scouts in the van. "We're loaded down in here."

The Boy Scouts from Pack 16 turned the bags full of canned goods over to Hoppmann, who signaled for volunteers to transfer the food donations into boxes.

The boxes were loaded into pickup trucks and transported to local food pantries such as the Salvation Army, FISH, the Gibson Recovery Center and Safe House For Women.

"We've already filled 260 boxes and we're still not through," Hoppmann said. "This is excellent. It's much better than the amount we collected last year."

One of the reasons more food was donated this year than last was because there was no natural disaster with which to contend.

"Last year's flood hit people who are probably donating food this year," Hoppmann said.

Boy Scouts dropped off bags donated by Executive Leasing of St. Louis last weekend. They picked up the same bags filled with canned goods on Saturday.

About 800 parents and scouts participated in the program in Cape Girardeau.

"What's good about the way this is done is that the food stays in the same town that donates it," Hoppmann said. "The food collected by Boy Scouts in Jackson will stay in Jackson."

The Scouting For Food campaign started in St. Louis several years ago and spread to towns like Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City 10 years ago. The campaign has flourished and now is a national project.

"I enjoy working on it, because I get a kick out of seeing the kids with smiles and hearing them sing and laugh as they bring in the food," Hoppmann said. "It makes them excited to be helping out someone in need."

Hoppmann displayed the map he used to organize the food collection Saturday.

"We send 16 troops or units out to different sections of the city," Hoppmann said. "This year we got help from about 30 volunteers including sororities and fraternities."

Salvation Army Capt. Elmer Trapp was happy to receive such a donation.

"This really helps us out a lot," said Trapp, who is collecting food to feed the hungry on Thanksgiving and during the holidays.

Those who didn't receive a bag may still contribute food by bringing cans to Boatmen's Banks in Missouri and Magna Banks in Illinois through Friday.