Scouts collect 2,700 items for food pantry

In many ways, America is the land of plenty. But for 1 in 8 people in Perry County, hunger is a reality. Many people believe that the problems associated with hunger are confined to small pockets of society, certain areas of the country, or certain neighborhoods, but the reality is much different.

Here is hunger by the numbers in Perry County: Of the 22,596 residents of Perry County, 3,525--or 15.6 percent of our population--are impoverished.

Day-in-and day-out the Du Quoin Food Pantry helps supplement the food needs of over 180 families.

To that end, Du Quoin Cub Scout Pack 128 and members of the Du Quoin Middle School Builders Club Saturday collected close to 2700 items for the two Du Quoin food pantries.

Scouting for Food is the largest one-day food drive in the Boy Scouts of America. Started in 1985 in the St. Louis area, Scouting for Food has expanded to other councils across the country. When the counting was completed Saturday night, scouts in the bi-state region had collected approximately 2.4 million food items in this year's drive. That food services nearly 500 food pantries between here and St. Louis.

Scouting for Food bags were distributed to neighborhoods all across Southern Illinois the Saturday before last. The bags were collected this past Saturday. If you were missed, please make arrangements to get your food items to one of Du Quoin's two food pantries soon. The Du Quoin Food Pantry is located at 314 North Maple Street. The phone number is (618) 571-2527. It is open 9 a.m. to noon and 5 to 7 p.m. Thursdays only.

The Western Egyptian Food Pantry is located at 317 S. Washington in Du Quoin. The phone number is (618) 542-4656.