Home.15 October 2006
Scouting for Food
Week Two Instructions
LARGE, EMPTY VEHICLES NEEDED! (SUV’s, Minivans, and Pickups)
(A) Pick up 10 - 12 milk crates and 4 - 5 boxes at the assembly, to separate collected items. Milk Crates are for canned goods; boxes are dry goods (boxes and soft-packed items). Glass items should be kept in a separate box if possible. Organize your vehicle before starting. The Driver and the Scouts should review these instructions before starting.
(B) Your assigned streets are highlighted on your map. Be careful, in a few map areas there are TWO separate sections of highlighted streets.
(C) Hit houses that FACE onto your assigned streets (pay attention at corners!)
(D) One Scout hits one side of the street, while the second Scout hits the opposite side. The driver should keep pace in his/her automobile. It is recommended that the driver use flashers during the escorting. Scouts should ALWAYS be within sight of each other and their escort. Remind the Scouts to be careful crossing streets.
(E) Collect visible bags only; note also that some people will donate food and other items in non-SFF bags. LOOK CAREFULLY! But:
* Do NOT knock on doors!
*Do NOT enter anyone’s house! (Open or screened porches OK.)
(F) Bring bags to cars – quickly separate the canned goods from the non-canned goods. Cans go in the milk crates; note that the crates can be filled to within ONE INCH of the top (no higher, or they won’t stack). Dry goods go into the box(es). Glass items into a separate box if possible. If you receive any worn-out American flags for retirement, or toys for Toys-for-Tots, keep them separate.
(G) If you see any of our Scouting for Food signs, collect them and relay back to the Parish Center at the end of the Collection session. NOTE THAT THE SIGNS ARE USUALLY ON THE END OF THE STREET – PLEASE CHECK CAREFULLY! Signs should be removed from the wires, and both the sign and the wire should be collected. SAVE BOTH! – and return them back to the Parish Center.
(H) Hopefully, you will not run into Scouts from other Troops collecting bags in your area. However, if you do, do NOT get into a confrontation with them. [There are no rewards (or even recognition) for collecting the “most” food; the idea is to collect all food.] If this happens, the two drivers should get together, ensure that both are in their correct areas, and if so just divvy up the remaining streets and houses that have not been hit yet, and keep going. However, the drivers should also get contact information from each other, and relay the information on the overlap to each Unit’s respective SFF Coordinators or Scoutmasters (it’s their mess to sort out, not yours!)
(I) Similarly - but fortunately rarely - you may see non-Scouting civilians stealing bags. These folks will not include uniformed Scouts, will generally be driving trash-heaps for vehicles, will be constantly looking around, and will generally take off when they see you. [This seemed more common during the early years of Scouting for Food, but is seldom noted these days. For Troop 111, this is more likely to occur in the areas near Old Lee Highway] If you see this occurring in your area, ABSOLUTELY DO NOT CONFRONT THESE PEOPLE! Instead, and only if you can do so without risk, get a quick write-up of the vehicle type, present location and direction, and call 911 and ask for police assistance.
(J) When finished (or when vehicle is full), drop off food at the specified drop-off point (the drop-off point has been different the past two years, so the Troop SFF Coordinator will have to tell you where it is this year (he/she will probably give you a map or a flyer with directions). Depending on when you arrive, the drop-off center will be a zoo. Be patient, and follow the instructions of the coordinators on-site. If you have properly pre-sorted all of your collected items, the drop off should go quickly once you get to the head of the line.
(K) When finished with the drop-off, return all collected signs and U-wires, any American flags or Toys-for-Tots, and your map binder, to the collection point back at the Parish Center (usually inside one of the Troop vans, as specified during the assembly). NOTE THAT IT IS CRITICAL TO SAVE AND RETURN THE MAP BINDERS AND SIGNS FOR FUTURE YEARS. Once this is done, drivers should drop their Scouts off directly at their homes.
Thanks for your help!
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