Suffolk News-Herald

The Girl Scouts of Hampton Roads and Suffolk Service Unit 730 – which is comprised of every scout troop in the city – are working to stamp out hunger by participating in a food drive, 2003 Helping Hands Girl Scout Food Drive, from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday.

Although the door-to-door drive will only be for a few hours tomorrow, Farm Fresh stores will be accepting non-perishable food donations until the end of October, said Ramona Martel, spokeswoman for the Colonial Coast Girl Scout Council in Chesapeake.

This food drive is one of many projects that prove that Scouts are doing just that. Every girl who participates in this food drive will receive a free 2003 Girl Scout Food Drive patch, complements of Farm Fresh.

Karen Ashby, an employee with the Suffolk Parks and Recreation and the unit’s community relations unit, said area residents are encouraged to donate by using bags that were included in area newspapers on Sept. 28.

People can fill the bag – or any other grocery bag – and label it for the food drive.

&uot;Residents will then place these bags on their front porches before 9 a.m. for Girl Scouts in the area to pick up. If no one has stopped by your house by noon, you may deliver your donation to the Farm Fresh closest to you by 2 p.m.,&uot; she said.

After troops have collected donations, they will drop them off at a designated Farm Fresh or at the Farm Fresh Extravaganza being held at the Hampton Coliseum from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

Non-perishable food items that should be donated are canned meats, juice, pasta, canned vegetables, cereal and peanut butter. Please do not include any glass or perishable items.

All donations will be sent to the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Foodbank of the Virginia Peninsula.