CHENANGO COUNTY – Contributing something to the community is what being a Girl Scout is all about, and this weekend, approximately 50 scouts will participate in a door-to-door food drive as part of the second annual United Way Day of Caring.

The Day of Caring, which serves as the United Way’s kickoff for the 2008 campaign, brings non-profit agencies and volunteers together to complete community service projects. So far, more than 200 volunteers have signed up to contribute to the event, scheduled to begin at 8:30 on Saturday.

Girl Scout Membership Specialist Mary Maiurano explained she wanted to find a project that the scouts could do to contribute to the local initiative. The local scout troops decided to hold a food drive to benefit area pantries.

“The food pantries are so important and a lot of them are going to be bare this year,” Maiurano said. Girl Scouts, ages 7 and up, will travel with their troop from door to door in their neighborhoods asking for donations of canned or non-perishable items. Troops from Gilbertsville, Mt. Upton, South New Berlin, New Berlin, Oxford, Norwich and North Norwich will take part.

Each troop will decide where they want to deliver the donated items. Maiurano said the scouts don’t have a specific goal in mind for the amount of food they collect. “We’ve told them all to do the best they can. One can is better than nothing,” Maiurano said. “But we want to collect as much as we can get.”