ECHO Food Bank receives helping hands from Boy Scout volunteers

FARMINGTON — Boy Scouts from the Crow Chapter of the Order of the Arrow helped the ECHO Food Bank here by packaging food on July 15.

The service was part of the members' volunteer work and was the first in-person event for members since March due to the coronavirus.

Members wore face masks and practiced social distancing while packing canned foods, pasta, cereal and other items in plastic bags and boxes.

The food was immediately distributed to participants enrolled in the food bank's emergency food assistance program.

Outside the food bank, program participants waited in vehicles to enter the warehouse's back area to receive the food via a no-contact drive-through service.

Food Bank Director Catherine Knowlton said the Scouts' work helped speed the distribution process.

"That's why prepacking is extremely important," Knowlton said.

Catherine Walker Grobler, an adviser for the scout chapter, explained the members help ECHO and other food pantries each year by holding a food drive in February.

Since the food bank needed help packing supplies this month, the members volunteered on Wednesday, she said.

Noel Lyn Smith covers the Navajo Nation for The Daily Times. She can be reached at 505-564-4636 or by email at nsmith@daily-times.com.

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