Life Scout Jack Shields scored a musical fund-raising success May 2 with his Eagle Scout Rockin’ for the Food Pantry concert.
The show, which featured three bands composed of students from Ridgefield High School, brought in more than 300 nonperishable food items, plus grocery gift cards, for a total value of more than $1,000 for the Ridgefield Social Services Department food pantry, Shields said.
About 70 people attended the concert at the Jesse Lee Memorial United Methodist Church hall over two hours.
“The concert was a big success,” said Shields, of Troop 76. He played guitar in the event. The event was his Eagle Scout qualifying project.
He is now finishing up the final Scout requirements and hopes to have his Eagle Scout Board of Review completed this summer, before he starts his senior year.
The concert helped raise awareness of the needs of the local food pantry, which has been running behind.
“He did a very nice job,” said Tony Phillips, director of social services. “He and his father brought in a nice volume of foods — we counted out more than 300 items.”
The food pantry has been running low, but a lot of fund raising and food drive contributions over the past couple of weeks have helped make a difference, Phillips said.
“Everybody jumped in and it was really good,” Phillips said.
The food pantry serves more than 80 families who are struggling, Shields said. “Many have still not recovered from the recession, have been unemployed for an extended period of time or have recently lost jobs. Others are ill or they cannot work because they are caregivers for others.”