Thousands of people across the U.S. recently found a blue grocery bag tied to their door handle — an annual tradition known as Scouting for Food that started 40 years ago in St. Louis.
Residents filled the bags with canned food and other items, such as peanut butter, beans, apple sauce and toothpaste. They then placed the full bags back outside their door.
Troops from Scouting America, formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America, mobilized across the country to collect the bags over the weekend, securing millions of pounds of food and other resources for local pantries — and learning firsthand what it means to serve their communities.
This year's collection just so happens to be occurring at a time when many Americans are in an urgent need of food, providing a unique perspective for young people who may not fully understand what's happening in the government but recognize the call to help others at their most vulnerable.
“It's even more important this year than ever because of what's currently happening right now in the nation,” said Troop 21 Scout Master Tom Coscia, of the Greater St. Louis Area Council. “I just know there are people that are struggling right now because they don't have their SNAP benefits, and I'm sure this helps them.”
On Saturday, dozens of scouts met at Meramec Elementary School in Clayton and received their marching orders for the day.
The mission was to quietly collect the blue bags from people’s homes, no need to knock or enter. They then brought the items to the Clayton Fire Department on North Bemiston Avenue, where scouts and leaders organized the resources into bins designated for canned, wet and dry foods.
Evelyn Ching, a 9-year-old Cub Scout from Pack 400, stood with her brother Elliot, dressed in khaki Scout uniforms at Meramec. Ching might be young, but she said she understands the purpose of their efforts.
“I really like being a scout because I get to help with the people in need, with giving food to them,” Ching said. “I also get to do really fun things like hiking and camping.”
Alex Brockhaus, 7, also from Pack 400, said he’s looking forward to making sure unhoused individuals can receive food.
“I've seen people on the road with signs, and sometimes I won't have any food or stuff to give them,” Brockhaus said. “We're going to take [the blue bags] to the fire department, and tonight the fire people will take it to homeless people.”
His sister Renee, 9, is in fourth grade and is a Webelos scout. She’ll soon be the first girl in her pack to have participated from kindergarten through fifth grade when she graduates from Cub Scouts. The national organization officially rebranded in February as Scouting America, and girls were first allowed to join the Cub Scouts program in 2018.
The Scouting for Food tradition started in 1985 in St. Louis as a one-time councilwide service project. In 1988, it became a national Scouting America program, expanding across the country as thousands of scouts collectively gathered hundreds of thousands of pounds of shelf-stable goods for food insecure residents in their communities. Since it was founded, more than 68 million food items have been collected in more than 63 counties across the St. Louis region.
This year, the Scouts aimed to support more than 400 food pantries and agencies.
Coscia became a Scout Master in 1991 and has overseen about 165 Eagle Scouts. He said he’s participated in the longstanding tradition since its inception four decades ago.
“It kind of got a little smaller after COVID, but it's becoming a big operation,” Coscia said. “In fact, when they first started, it was to be for two years as a good turn, but then there was such a demand, they decided to continue to make it an annual event.”
Last year, the Scouts collected 1.4 million food items that supported at least 500,000 meals, troop leaders said. Some of the busiest fire station hubs for food sorting were in West Overland, University City and Maryland Heights.
Sorting the goods
Over the course of an hour, blue bags filled with food covered the space just outside the Clayton firehouse as dozens of scouts from Troop 21, Troop 21B and Troop 21G whisked around to empty loads and organize the items.
Large white bins quickly filled to overflow with canned goods.
But canned foods and toothpaste weren’t the only items — one scout marveled as she unearthed a container of caviar that had been donated on Saturday. Coscia said it’s common for unusual items to show up, like military meals, used boots and even expired shredded cheese.
Rob Brockhaus, Pack 400 Cubmaster, said Saturday the generosity is appreciated.
“Sometimes condiments from different restaurants have been donated (and) socks,” Brockhause said. “Whatever the item is, people are being generous, and sometimes they're unusual. But you know, the staples of corn and green beans and pasta stuffing, those Thanksgiving things, those are the highlights.”
Fourteen-year-old Yuhan Liu, of Troop 21G, is looking forward to spending time with her friends and family over Thanksgiving — and encouraged people to donate to local pantries so everyone can enjoy the holiday. The U.S. Department of Agriculture in its last hunger report found the food insecurity rate across the country was 13.5% in 2023 and 12.2% the year prior.
Nearly 800,000 Missourians were food insecure in 2023, according to researchers at the University of Missouri.
“Hunger in America is very prevalent, and we should do anything that we can to fight hunger because anyone can affect hunger, and hunger can affect anybody,” Liu said.
