Bags can be picked up at the Rainbow Council Service Center in October. Please contact lynn.zumstein@scouting.org to make alternate pick up arrangements.

*PICKUPS WILL START THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 1st.  PLEASE LET LYNN KNOW THE DATE AND TIME OF YOUR PICKUP.*

What is Scouting For Food?

Scouting For Food (“SFF”) is a Council wide food drive that is conducted over two days during the first three weeks of November.   SFF is designed for Scout units and family members to work in their respective community supporting local food pantries.  

During the first or second week of November, Scouts will place brown bags (provided by Council) on resident's front doors.  Your unit picks the bag distribution date.  Each bag will have a flyer highlighting the purpose of SFF and asks the resident to place the filled bag on their doorstep on a date that your unit has scheduled for pickup.   In advance of SFF, the Scout Unit will locate and coordinate with a local food pantry who will receive their collection to keep the food in its community.  

Our goal is for every unit in Rainbow Council to participate and help collect a combined 500,000 pounds.

Here is what we're asking of you:

·        Register your unit by October 1st 

·        Before October 1st, find and work with a local food pantry who will receive your collection

·        Ask the pantry to be available on the day that your unit will be collecting food. 

What To Do/Expect:

Before October 1st – Register through the online registration link the number of brown bags your unit will need. Assume 30 bags for each Cub Scout, 45-60 bags per Scout. **Currently a maximum number of paper bags that may be requested is 750 per unit. If you are doing a collection that is with multiple units, the maximum number of bags is 10,000.**

Bags can be picked up at the Rainbow Council Service Center in October. More specific dates will be available soon. Please contact Lynn Zumstein at Lynn.zumstein@scouting.org to make alternate pick up arrangements. 

Select two dates in November:

·       Date 1 - Select a date that works for your unit to distribute brown bags. Commit 30-60 minutes to distribute bags at homes chosen by your unit.

·       Date 2 - Collect the brown bags, count and weigh (if possible) the number of food items collected, deliver to your food pantry, record your collection on the SFF website. Note: If weighing is not an option, it is assumed one item equals one pound.

Once you have completed your food drive, you will need to complete the following tasks: 

1. Report how many pounds of food you donated with Rainbow Council via this link https://247scouting.com/forms/702-scoutingforfood2025reporting.

If you don't have a scale, assume one item weighs one pound and go from there.

**If your unit needs custom flyers to be printed with the collection date and time on them, we will need your custom information no later than September 25th if you want to pick them up with the bags.  Please email that information to Lynn.zumstein@scouting.org with the date, time and number of flyers needed or fill it out on your registration.**

For questions, contact Lynn Zumstein.