Scouts will be going door to door in neighborhoods all across Barrington on Saturday, Oct. 31, but it will not be to collect candy. Halloween morning will also serve as the door hanger delivery day for the annual Scouting for Food drive, which is Rhode Island’s largest food drive. 

“If you received a door hanger, Scouts will return to your neighborhood on Saturday, Nov. 7 to pick up your donations,” stated a press release for the event. “Simply leave bagged or boxed non-perishable items outside your front door (or wherever your hanger was left) by 9 a.m.”

All the food collected by Scouts on Nov. 7 will be donated to Tap-In (Touch A Person In Need), which will distribute the food to its clients living in Barrington, East Providence, Warren and Bristol. 

Officials at Tap-In provided a list of the most-needed food items. It includes:

• Soups and stews: Any variety, canned, or boxed    

• Pasta, macaroni and cheese: Any variety, boxed, bagged, or canned

• Breakfast cereals: Any variety   

• Rice: Jasmine, yellow, basmati, white, and brown

• Canned fish and meat: Tuna, chicken, sardines, salmon    

• Canned fruit: Pineapple, mango, peaches, pears, mandarin oranges, fruit cocktail

• Canned vegetables: Corn, green beans, peas, spinach, okra  

• Tomato products: Diced, crushed, sauce, paste

• Beans and lentils: Canned or dried black, cannellini, kidney, fava, chickpeas, etc.

• Nut and seed butters: Peanut, sunflower, soy nut, almond, cashew

• Sauces, spices, and condiments: In plastic bottles or cans only, no glass 

“Food demand continues this year at record levels,” stated a release from Narragansett Council. “Ongoing policy changes, rising grocery prices and higher costs of living across the board have threatened food access to even more families. The Rhode Island Community Food Bank's network of 140 member agencies is serving more than 89,000 people each month and is under increasing pressure to keep shelves stocked to meet the need.”

For more information or to make a donation online, visit www.scoutingforfood.org