By Great Neck Pack 178 Committee
More than thirty scouts from Pack 178 in Great Neck and their family members came together for their first Scouting for Food event to benefit the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island on Sunday, June 10.
Scouts showed up in full uniform at 9:30 a.m. in front of the King Kullen supermarket in Manhasset and started soliciting food and supply donations from customers to help replenish the food pantry and supply closet at the Ronald McDonald House. They worked until 4:30 p.m., asking every patron if they would help out by buying one extra item from the Ronald McDonald House wish list and donating it on their way out of the store.
Former Cubmaster David Lau came up with the idea to support the Ronald McDonald House because his company Keller Williams of Greater Nassau had cooked breakfast for this charity a month earlier. Inspired by the work the Ronald McDonald house does, he contacted their volunteer department and put the wheels in motion for this food and supply drive.
Julienne Kawai, a former den leader and next year’s Assistant Cubmaster for Pack 178, reached out to the manager of King Kullen and secured the location for the event.
The scouts collected over 35 boxes full of donations with items like paper plates, to cereals, to canned goods, Ziploc bags, aluminum foil, toilet paper and napkins, diapers and everything in between. Many patrons generous in their donations, with some customers buying multiple bags of items to donate while keeping only one bag of groceries for themselves. Supporters also donated $160 in King Kullen gift cards. Patrons also bought snacks and candies for the children to reward them for their tireless efforts.
Every donation, whether it was a can of tuna or a box of cereal or a jug of laundry detergent will be going towards helping those children and families who come to the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island.
According to the RMH website, the mission of the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island is to keep families with sick children close to each other and the care and resources they need. The House provides the parents and siblings of these children with a temporary haven in a secure and comfortable environment among other families sharing a similar burden.
One of the Scout parents summarized the hopefulness of the event compared to newspaper headlines, saying “Just give people an opportunity to do something good and they’ll do it!”
