The Scouting for Food drive has been a national scout

tradition for decades.

Nearly every troop and pack in Tracy will join forces for

the door-to-door collections this weekend.

Scouts will only accept non-perishable foods, and will cover

most neighborhoods in Tracy.

“We can’t hit every house, so if the people are interested

in participating, they can pick up phone and ask us to come, or they can take

the food out directly to Tracy Interfaith,” said Troop 515 Assistant Scout

Master Carol Merril, a volunteer for the past six years.

About 200 volunteers, including scouts, their siblings and

friends, should turn out for the Saturday drive, Merril said.

Last year, scouts gathered more than a ton of canned and dry

food for the ministry.

“The drive is something that’s critical for this time of

year,” Merril said. “The ministry needs as much help as they can get, and this

stocks their pantry when they need it most.”

Much of the food collected from the scouts’ drive will be

used for the ministry’s Thanksgiving meals.

“It’s one of our two biggest food drives every year,” said

Tracy Interfaith Director Darlene Quinn, adding that she might need a few extra

hands to help sort the food once the drive ends. “We need help like this

year-round. But this is the time that people want to help.”

With this food drive and the other smaller ones between now

and Christmas, Quinn said Tracy Interfaith should be in pretty good shape for

food till right around February — a welcome change after struggling though

summer to keep enough food in the place.