The Boy Scouts’ Scouting for Food Drive brought in 16,845 pounds of food to the White Doves Holiday Project on Nov. 10, getting the project off to a healthy start.

However, White Doves will need about 4,000 more pounds of food to be able to serve all its families.

Hundreds of Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts swept through Martin County neighborhoods on Nov. 10, collecting non-perishable food that residents had left out for the Scouting for Food Drive.

The scouts then delivered the food to the Martin County Fairgrounds, which serves as the “warehouse” of the White Doves Holiday Project. There, Eagle Scouts and members of the IRCC baseball team unloaded, weighed and stored the food.

“The eight tons of food the scouts collected is a huge quantity, and we are extremely thankful for their effort each year,” said project coordinator Anne Lalley. “We certainly couldn’t do it without the Boy Scouts, but our experience shows that we’ll need more to fill the needs.”

The Scouting for Food Drive delivered 16,805 pounds of food last year.

White Doves will serve more than 1,200 families – including more than 3,000 children – with toys and the staples for a holiday meal. Distribution will take place on Dec. 15 in Indiantown and Dec. 19-20 in Stuart.

Donations of food, toys, holiday decorations and money are welcome at the White Doves warehouse, Building B at the Martin County Fairgrounds, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday, from now through Dec. 18.

Suggestions for nonperishable food items include canned vegetables and fruit, soup, rice, beans, pasta, peanut butter and canned meat. Please avoid items in glass containers.

In regard to toys, White Doves is the local coordinating organization for the Marine Corps Reserve’s Toys for Tots drive in Martin County. The project receives the donations of new, unwrapped toys that people drop off at the dozens of Toys for Tots collection points throughout the county. Locations are listed online; go to www.martinvolunteers.org/whitedoves and click on the Toys for Tots logo.

Anyone wishing to make a monetary donation may also send it to White Doves Holiday Project, PO Box 362, Stuart, FL 34995.

ABOUT WHITE DOVES

The 18th annual White Doves Holiday Project serves as a central clearinghouse for donated food and toys at holiday time. The massive undertaking is a project of Martin Volunteers, a program of United Way of Martin County, and pools the resources of dozens of volunteers, community groups, agencies, families, businesses and faith-based and civic organizations.

More information is available at www.martinvolunteers.org/whitedoves or by calling (772) 220-4472.