"It means a lot to help," said the Troop 359 member. "It really does help (the food pantries)." Area Scouts participated Saturday in Scouting for Food, a one-day nationwide event billed as the "Largest One-Day Food Drive." "It's fun because you have to run and all your friends are with you when you're doing it," said Justin May, a member of Cub Scout Troop 370 "The fun part is when you get to the food pantry and unpack it because it's fast." The best way to describe local food pantries on Saturday was organized chaos. One volunteer at the St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry at Holy Rosary stated it best amidst a table full of baked beans, macaroni and other nonperishable items jokingly telling others "when the war starts, the plan fails." Nevertheless, the generous donations throughout the county helped soften the fears from those who worried this year's unstable economy might lead to a decrease in participation. "Our food pantry has been getting hit harder and harder every month," said Joyce Hollaway as she counted boxed items at Holy Rosary. As much fun as the Scouts enjoyed braving the cold to run around area neighborhoods, local food pantries benefited the most, including some at historical levels. For example, the Southern Warren County Food Pantry located at St. Paul's United Church of Christ had 5,704 items collected, an all-time high. Last year, 3,593 items were donated to the pantry and 2,846 in 2006. "It's definitely going to be helpful to the pantry, especially at this time of year," said Scouting for Food committee member Jonne Hanneken. Barb Harman, pantry coordinator, said the pantry currently feeds a maximum of 10 families and should be able to keep their shelves stocked plenty with future donations until next year's Scouting for Food. "We had a magnificent turnout," Harman noted. "It's going to help immensely. I think people realize there was a need. I'm so grateful." A final tally was not known at Holy Rosary on Saturday, but the one-day drive is normally the largest collection for the year. Agape Ministry of Warren County reported an increase in donations at its location at Open Hearts Church in Wright City and a slight decrease at its Warrenton headquarters. Jim Donley, a volunteer at Agape, said 4,444 items were accumulated on Saturday and Kathy Purcell, executive director, noted that more donations are being dropped off. "It was great," Donley said. "It's such a good program." The Wright City location had 4,074 items gathered, an increase of 800 from the previous year, by Cub and Boys Scout Troop 835 and Scouts from New Melle. "I was very pleased with the way things went," said Kathy Ellis of Troop 835. "My son said it's the best thing Scouts do. The boys enjoy it." Staff writer Cindy Gladden contributed to this story.

Saturday Stockpile: Annual Scouting for Food Benefits Local Food Pantries

Saturday Stockpile: Annual Scouting for Food Benefits Local Food Pantries