Local Cub Scouts collected donations from friends and neighbors to feed Suffolk homeless.

Cub Scout Pack 73 handed out hundreds of brown paper bags across several Suffolk neighborhoods on March 11. Each of the 25 Scouts distributed at least 80 donation bags.

“I think they really appreciate just being part of the community,” Pack 73 Master Dan Boehning said.

About 200 bags filled with non-perishables were collected the following Saturday. All of these donations will go to the organization ForKids, which supports dozens of homeless families and individuals in Western Tidewater with food and housing assistance.

“We were blown away by the donations this year,” ForKids senior family case manager Lisa Ellsworth said.

Bear Den Leader Neal Quinton said he and his son, James Elza, distributed bags in the Olde Mill Creek neighborhood for three hours.

“He did all the bag passing out,” Quinton said. “I just carried them.”

With his mother, 8-year-old James did another three hours of knocking on doors. This earned him the “Messengers of Peace” Scouts badge, along with many others in his pack.

“I’m happy to get my badge for that,” he said. “It means a lot for me.”

Boehning said the badge represents the Scouts’ emphasis of citizenship, volunteering and giving back to the community.

“It means you’re doing your part to help your community, your pack and your church,” he said. “It means you’re getting involved.”

Pack treasurer and Scout mom Jacky Musick said the bag collections on March 18 were hampered by several Scouts getting sick and terrible weather. Nevertheless, they got the job done.

“We really rallied and came together,” she said.

Boehning said that the Cub Scouts, ages 6 to 10, couldn’t operate without community support or the support of their parents. Cub Scout roles change as children move on when they reach age 11 and graduate to the Boy Scouts.

Shannon Pociask has been a Scout mom for her 7-year-old son Langdon. She has helped with several scout learning activities such as “Digging in the Past,” which taught the kids paleontology.

She said her son is also learning how to be a community role model, and she does the same.

“Being a Scout mom means being organized and well rounded,” she said. “You step up and take on some of the activities for fun learning.”