Boy Scouts raise food for Crossroads pantry Four truckloads collected during recent drive

OLD TOWN – Boys Scouts from Troop 478 in Orono and Troop 76 in Old Town thank all the community members who responded generously to help restock the Food Pantry at Crossroads Resource Center in Old Town.

Four truckloads of food – more than 2,000 food items weighing 1.5 tons, and more than $350 in cash donations – were collected during the Feb. 29-March 1 food drive at Bell’s Orono IGA.

Crossroads provides some 3,000 pounds of food a week to more than 2,500 people each month. The food and cash donations, which will supplement other sources of food the pantry relies on, will probably last between two weeks and a month, according to Brenda Davis of Crossroads.

“I want to thank the Scouts and Bell’s for their wonderful help and enthusiasm,” Davis said. “It was like a shot of vitamin B working with them!”

Star Scout Cam Rose of Troop 478 in Orono initiated the idea of the service project and, with assistant Scoutmaster Steve Chappelle of Troop 76, coordinated the efforts of 20 Scouts from the two troops.

“It was a great opportunity for Scouts to speak to customers about the needs of our community, and the generous response was overwhelming. The support we had from Bell’s IGA, as well as the publicity through local news media and businesses, was tremendous,” said Orono Scoutmaster Brian Frederick.