Spam and Caviar

It was a standard food drive. The cherubic smiles of Boy Scouts, outstretched paper bags and the mantra about feeding the hungry.

As expected, there were the typical containers of Spam and meat chili and the ubiquitous cans of tomatoes--stewed, whole, paste or chopped.

But when the 2,000 Boy and Cub Scouts scoured the streets of Ventura County on Saturday morning, a few of them came away with goods that reflected some of the residents’ more-than-comfortable lifestyle.

Take a group of 11- and 14-year-old boys from Troop 718. Their canned goodies included caviar, pickled asparagus, herring filets and more than one container of smoked salmon.

For their part, the boys participating in the Scouting for Food Drive were most excited about the large box of Gummi Bears.

“Gummi Bears are perishable aren’t they?” asked 14-year-old Evan Schiller, looking smart in his brown uniform. His eyes narrowed on the candy as he wished he could bust open the package and devour them.

“Leave them in the truck,” scolded one of the accompanying parents.

As Michael Schwartz, 11, knocked on wood-paneled doors and patted many a golden retriever, he wasn’t concerned about the goods themselves, but about how recipients would access them.

“I worry that we collect the food and no one collects the can openers for them,” he said. “They get all this, but what if they can’t open it?”

He was not the only one concerned about can openers on this year’s 14th annual food drive. Other boys were overheard discussing it as well.

Canned food was collected by the tons throughout the county between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. and delivered to area food banks. The event was planned to correspond with the Scouts’ 90-year anniversary.

In Thousand Oaks, parents drove near the boys, who deposited their full grocery bags into the backs of cars after every couple of houses. Some boys pulled red wagons to ease the transport of cans.

“How much fun you have depends on how much stamina you have,” said Benjamin Steele, 11. “You have to multiply the weight by how much distance you have to walk. It can get tiring.”

But the 14 boys of Troop 718 persisted through the hazy sun and the sometimes heavy loads and by noon most of them had made their way to MANNA, the Conejo Valley food bank, to drop off close to 600 cans of food.

At MANNA, located in a former house near Hampshire Road, many uniformed boys milled around, unloading food and tabulating the number of cans.

“This is a godsend for us,” said Pauline Saterbo, MANNA’s chief administrator, as she waved her hand toward the commotion. “These young people do a wonderful job.”

She said spring is always a low point in food collection, because people feel as if the holiday gifts should last for months. Last year MANNA collected 11,000 cans from the Scout drive. “We are so grateful for what they bring in,” Saterbo said.

Susan Braun, mother of one of the Boy Scouts, said the yearly drive helps the boys understand the need to help others. “What would be nice is if they could see the people receiving the food,” she said. “That would make a difference.”