The Las Vegas Area Council, Boy Scouts of America (BSA), are retooling their Scouting for Food Drive beginning Wednesday, April 22, 2020. In response to The Salvation Army Southern Nevada’s service to the Las Vegas valley and beyond, their food pantries are being depleted. Even the 135,000 pounds of food collected by the Scouts in mid-November has been given to families, many of whom have been affected by COVID-19 closures and layoffs.
Patrick Ballinger, South Field Director for the Las Vegas Council, BSA, reached out to the non-profit organization with whom they have partnered to collect donated non-perishable food for over 31 years. “During these trying times, we understand that The Salvation Army is running out of food to distribute to needy families. We appreciate the opportunity to continue our long-standing partnership, especially in these difficult times,” said Ballinger in an email.
With this new version of Scouting for Food, donors will be able to make a “no touch” drop off of non-perishable food such as canned meats, vegetables and fruit, peanut butter and jelly, pastas and jarred or canned sauce, boxed ready to cook meals and more. Food will be collected at the Las Vegas Council offices, 7220 S. Paradise Road, Las Vegas, NV 89119, each Wednesday beginning April 22, 2020, from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Volunteers will take the donations out of the cars as they come through and sort them for delivery to The Salvation Army’s Henderson Food Pantry. The food will also be shared with the organization’s Pahrump and Mesquite pantries as needed.
“I think what Boy Scouts do for The Salvation Army and the families we help is simply amazing,” said Major Randy Kinnamon, Clark County Commander for the organization. “It is wonderful that in this time of crisis for our valley residents, the Scouts have found a creative way to build upon our already strong partnership, assisting us in Doing the Most Good for those we serve.”
If anyone prefers to donate cash for the purchase of food for the Hope Pantry, The Salvation Army also offers a text-to-give alternative. Simply text ScoutingForFood to 51555 and be directed to their online giving site and make a donation in the amount desired.
The Boy Scouts of America provides the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be “Prepared®” for life. The Scouting organization is composed of 2.6 million youth members between the ages of 5 and 21 and more than a million volunteers in local councils throughout the United States and its territories. For more information on the Boy Scouts of America, please visit www.scouting.org.
The Salvation Army annually helps more than 23 million Americans overcome poverty, addiction, and economic hardships through a range of social services. By providing food for the hungry, clothing and shelter for the homeless, disaster and heat relief, senior activity and outreach, adult rehabilitation, and opportunities for underprivileged children, The Salvation Army is doing the most good at 7,600 centers of operation around the country. Approximately 82 cents of every dollar donated to The Salvation Army is used to support its social services. In the first-ever listing of “America’s Favorite Charities” by The Chronicle of Philanthropy, The Salvation Army ranked as the country’s largest privately funded, direct-service nonprofit. For more information, visit SalvationArmySouthernNevada.org, and follow us on Twitter @SalArmySoNV and #DoingTheMostGood.
THIS AND THAT QUICKLY:
My good friend, Murray SawChuck is doing it again this Saturday. Murry The Magician – Tropicana Laugh Factory headliner, Fantasy Luxor guest star and Social Media Viral Sensation goes LIVE again this weekend!!!
Since Murray did his LIVE Shows 2 1/2 weeks ago, people seemed to really like them with over 40,000 + Live Views they are going to do it again this weekend but completely different. SawChuck got so many messages about how much people loved to learn the magic, he is dedicating this weekend’s shows to “Teaching Tricks” where you can learn some cool stuff by merely tuning in to the Murray & Lefty’s “Teach a Trick,” performance.
Murray and Lefty will perform a few tricks themselves, but this will be mainly an hour plus of teaching and making tricks with Murray! Saturday 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST on Facebook www.facebook.com/magicwithmurray and then on Sunday 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST LIVE on Murray’s YouTube Page at www.youtube.com/magicmurray
Las Vegas Motor Speedway and its food service partner, Levy Restaurants, provided lunch for the medical staff at University Medical Center on Wednesday. “Medical workers around the world have become some of our biggest heroes during this unprecedented time,” said LVMS President Chris Powell. “In reality, this is a small gesture, but we wanted to be able to do something to show our appreciation for the dedication these health care professionals have shown throughout this pandemic.”
Speedway and Levy staff delivered approximately 300 pizzas to UMC during the lunch hour to give front-line workers a small break as they continue to care for patients in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak. The pizzas were prepared by Levy chefs from various sports properties around the Las Vegas Valley. “As our front-line caregivers work together to save lives in response to this unprecedented public health crisis, UMC continues to see an outpouring of support from the community we serve,” said UMC Public Relations Manager Scott Kerbs. “Thank you to LVMS and Levy Restaurants for thinking of our hard-working team members at UMC.”
I am not prone to plugging a music video in my column, and to be honest I can’t remember the last time I did. However, during this time, when we are all hunkered down in our homes, a group of 100 plus entertainers, musicians, producers, etc., in Las Vegas came together, via technology, and have accomplished what was done some 35 years ago when “We Are the World,” a charity single, was originally recorded by a supergroup (stars and entertainers) for USA for Africa in 1985. It was written in 1985 by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian.
Now we have our own “Supergroup,” and you can watch and listen it here:
How many of you readers out there have attended the Shakespeare Festival in Utah? Well, while you are hunkered down at home the Festival has gathered up some of their videos and produced something for you to watch. You may be sheltering in place, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s touring production of Romeo and Juliet and its various workshops.
They have added a special playlist on their YouTube channel just for you. Watch the production, listen to the questions and answers of a talkback, and play some theatre games or watch some workshops. You can’t go to the theatre or to school right now, so the Festival will bring it to you!
This weeks column is a wee bit short, as truly the news is mostly things dealing with the coronavirus. But my next column will once again be about someone or someplace that I have met, hung with, worked for, or visited during my formative years and beyond. From the responses you have given me you seem to enjoy these short stories. So, I promise some more will be forthcoming throughout this time.