By Brandon Kathman
Special to the Clarkston News

Scouts across the Clarkston area are getting ready for this year’s Scouting for Food event, a nonperishable food drive set to begin during the first weekend of November.
The Scouting for Food initiative, which is carried out in partnership with Gleaners Community Food Bank, utilizes thousands of Scouts across the state in collecting essentials. These are then distributed through the Gleaners network of charities. During the 2021 drive, Scouts collected over 112,000 pounds of food, though local organizers feel confident that this year’s drive will exceed that.
For Clarkston Troop 189, the drive represents a proud yearly tradition.
According to volunteer Dennis Weaver, cheerful service is an essential element of the Scouting program, and the initiative is a great opportunity to encourage a spirit of volunteerism in younger generations.
“I hope the Scouts will gain a better understanding of how easy it is to do something nice for someone else,” Weaver said. “Our Oath calls for to help other people at all times.”
Project coordinator Bob DeWar said the Scouts will distribute special bags to homes in Clarkston and across Oakland County on Nov. 5, requesting that residents leave donations on their doorsteps for pickup in one week. Scouts will then revisit those houses on Nov. 12 to retrieve bags filled with canned goods, cereal, pasta, peanut butter, juice and other items in high demand, DeWar said.
DeWar expressed high hopes for the drive in Scouting’s local Pontiac-Manito district, as units in Clarkston and other neighboring communities are among the fastest growing in the state of Michigan. The district has seen membership totals increase by almost 300 Scouts during fall of 2022.
“Our local districts have experienced unprecedented growth in the last two months,” DeWar said. “With more active Scouts than we have had since before the pandemic, we believe this drive could be our largest in many years.”
For more information on the upcoming food drive, visit michiganscouting.org/scoutingforfood/.

PHOTO: Packs 59 and 128 pose with their 2021 haul, which was approximately 2,000 pounds of food. Photo: Provided by Brandon Kathman