Boy Scouts Collect Nearly 4,500 Pounds for Food Pantry

Area Boy Scout troops collected 4,472 pounds to donate to the Food Pantry in Port Washington through a door-to-door drive held last week.

Scouts Oct. 15, in hopes that the bags would be filled and left for pick up the following week. Many of , but donations were still collected in any old bag — and the drive was still a success, according to Doug Schaefer, committee chairman for Troop 875 in Port Washington and event coordinator.

"(Given) the wind flying and the state of the economy (it was a good collection)," he said. "It’s slightly better than last year and still not quite to the levels back in 2008 — but that should help the folks that rely on the pantry every week through the holidays."

The amount collected, which totals 5,647 items, came from Port Washington, Saukville and Belguim collections, Schaefer said. Last year, the effort raised 4,210 pounds of food for the Port Washington pantry — a total of 5,602 items.

Joy Dreier, administrator for the Food Pantry, 1800 N. Wisconsin St., said the donation will definitely help the pantry, but ongoing donations are still needed.

The pantry goes through an average of 2,000 pounds per week, and that number will only continue to grow as the holidays near, Dreier said.

"We're there every week, and we see clients every week — so we need an ongoing donation," she said.

Donations can be dropped off at the Food Pantry, which is located next to , between 8 and 9:30 a.m. on Tuesdays, Dreier said. , and all also have food drop bins.