By DOUGLAS W. MOTLEY
Senior Writer
Under the guidance of Scoutmaster Charles DeBruyn and Jim Newcomb, the Boy Scout assistant commissioner for the mountain communities, a dozen or more Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts from Lake Arrowhead-based Boy Scout Troop 89 and Cub Scout Den 264 collected no less than 1,600 pounds of non-perishable food items. Shoppers at Stater Bros. in Lake Arrowhead and Jensen’s Market in Blue Jay donated rice, pasta, canned meats and vegetables, mac and cheese, peanut butter and cereal during the troop’s 25th annual “Scouting for Food” drive. The drive took place from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 8.
Newcomb, who has been involved in Scouting for 23 years, pointed out that seven shopping carts at Stater Bros. had been filled to the top with non-perishable food items, while nine more carts were filled at Jensen’s. He figured that each of the 16 carts contained about 100 pounds of groceries. The collected food was shared with Operation Provider, the local food bank in Rimforest.
While collecting canned and packaged grocery items in front of Stater Bros., 12-year-old Miles Smith, who attends Mary Putnam Henck Intermediate School, was asked what inspired him to become a Boy Scout. He said he was inspired by his father, who had been a member of the now-disbanded, Troop 55. Miles added that his favorite Scouting activity is backpacking. “I’ve climbed Mount San Gorgonio and to the top of San Jacinto, where I camped out, and I’ve gone kayaking at the Kern River,” he said.
Meanwhile, at Jensen’s Market in Blue Jay, 16-year-old Chris Rafferty, who is a home-schooled sophomore, said he enjoys backpacking, camping and helping others by volunteering for the Mountain Thrift Shop in Blue Jay.
Scoutmaster Charles DeBruyn’s pickup truck was chock full of donated groceries.
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