Scouts Gather More Than 700 Pounds of Food for Elkridge Food Pantry

Two local Cub Scout packs collected more than 1300 pounds of food during this year’s annual "Scouting for Food Drive."

The donations will be distributed across 25 food pantries in Howard County.

“Some people gave a little, and some gave a lot to help us feed the needy,” said Nicholas Martin of Pack 360.

Martin, along with 15 other Cub Scouts, went door-to-door on Feb. 26, placing bags at homes for residents to fill with canned goods. The following week, they returned to collect the bags from homes in neighborhoods around Elkridge and Ellicott City. 

The pack went an extra mile to help feed the hungry and collected goods and cash donations from patrons at . They delivered 63 bags of food weighing 630 pounds to on March 5, which will distribute the donations among Howard County area food banks.

“It was amazing. The people were so generous, giving us cases of soups and cash to buy more canned goods,” said Dawn Martin, who volunteers with her son’s pack.   

Pack 360 wasn’t alone in its community efforts around Elkridge. More than 700 pounds of food was collected by Pack 432, whose members set up tables outside of the weekend of March 5 and 6.

“During the food drive, we collected over $500 and 700 pounds of food, which was taken directly to the . They were greatly surprised, considering the state of the economy right now,” said Brenda Kourpias, who volunteers with Pack 432.

The Elkridge Food Pantry operates the second and fourth Friday of every month from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. and feeds on average 50 to 65 families (whose average makeup is 4 members) during operations, according to an active volunteer named Phil. “During this drive, we got twice more than we’ve ever received from the scouts," he said. "It is such a blessing.”