Governor kicks off Boy Scout food drive

SALT LAKE CITY — In a fight between Batman and Superman, Batman wins — at least when Utah Boy Scouts and Gov. Gary Herbert are involved. 

Herbert was the first to donate in the 27th annual Scouting for Food drive, which officials begins Saturday.

The gubernatorial staff split into two teams — Batman vs. Superman — to see who could collect more food. Batman won out, and the Boys Scouts collected approximately 500 pounds of food from the front steps of the Governor's Mansion — appropriately stored in Batman- and Superman-logoed boxes — Thursday evening.

Scouts will come around to homes starting at 9 a.m. Saturday to collect non-perishable canned and commercially packaged food. Those who did not receive bags from Scouts this week can take donations to drop-off sites in their community, or to food banks or emergency food pantries in Utah.

Food collected from the drive will refill the shelves of the Utah Food Bank and food pantries in the state. An estimated 1.5 million pounds of food is expected to be collected during the drive.

This is the first year the drive kicked off at the Governor's Mansion rather than at the Capitol, said Ginette Bott, chief marketing officer at the Utah Food Bank. Herbert "is a huge propeonet of setting a good example" and thought kicking off the drive would show his support for the upcoming food drive, Bott said.

For more information on the Scouting for Food drive, visit www.utahfoodbank.org. 

— Whitney Evans

Twitter: whitevs7