S4F

The Scouting For Food (S4F) Collection Areas for the 2023 program.

The HMC S4F committee created this map to better enable units to manage their collection areas.  It should be noted that collection areas are not assigned by this committee, they are selected by the units themselves.  

We are hoping that the units in the Hawk Mountain Council S4F program will use this map : 

 - To work more efficiently with surrounding units. There may be areas in between units, that are currently not be collected. Units can work together to hit those areas this year.

 - Increase unit collections areas. Using the map, units may be able to identify high density areas that are not currently being collected.  

 - Get help from a nearby unit.  Maybe your unit has a camp out planned for one of the S4F weekends and you need some help. You can use this map to find contact information for nearby units.

 - Work more closely with a nearby unit. Some units (like 529 & 543) have decided to work together on all their collection areas, since they are both in the same school district. This works out great for the scouts: they get to work together with friends from school that attend the other unit, since that unit is physically closer to their home.  Maybe your unit would like to try this too?

Notes:

• The map has four layers. 

  • Foodbank Collection Sites Layer: central locations where the Foodbank will collect the food on large trucks to be transferred to the Food Bank.  Units should drop off the bags of food collected at these sites.

  • Unit Collection Areas Layer : These are the "reserved" locations where units will drop off and pick up collection bags. The individual units are responsible for contacting this committee to identify their unit's planned collection areas.

  • Unit Meeting Locations : these locations were imported from data files provided by the HMC office in Sept/Oct 2014. They can be regenerated and re-imported whenever it is needed.

  • Populated Places : these are neighborhoods, sub-divisions, ... in Berks County from the http://pennsylvania.hometownlocator.com/ website. As we understand it, someone went through the 2010 census and created this list of neighborhoods/sub-divisions in Berks County.

• By default, only the Unit Collection Areas layer is "turned on", when the map if first opened. Users can turn on/off layers by clicking the name of the layer, in the vertical menu on the left-side of the map window.

• When multiple layers are turned on ( in the vertical menu on the left-side of the map window), the information in the menu may be larger than the menu window. Users can use the scroll bar on the menu window to move up/down through the information.

• Users can zoom in/out in the map by using:

  • The +/- button in the lower right-hand corner of the map window

  • The center wheel on the mouse (if your mouse has one)

  • Or the "+" and "-" keys on the physical keyboard.

• Users can move around in the map, by using the left mouse button: click and hold the left mouse button, drag the map, and release the left button on the mouse. Users can also use the four cursor keys on the physical keyboard.

• By default, the S4F Google Map is in "satellite" mode. Users can switch to "map" mode, by clicking on the large square button labeled "map", in the bottom-left hand corner of the map window, just below the vertical menu.

• Trick:  If you "turn on" the Unit Meeting Locations layer, you can click on any of the unit map icons and a popup window will be displayed with details about that unit, such as the contact person and phone number. Click on the "X" in the upper-right hand corner to close the popup window.

• Units with multiple collection areas have the letters "B", "C", ... appended to their unit numbers, in the vertical menu on the left-side of the map window.

• Trick: To find a unit's collection area quickly, find the unit # in the vertical menu on the left-side of the map window  -- they should be in numeric order.  Click on the unit # with the left mouse button. Google Maps will zoom into that collection area and display a popup window with update information.

• Hint: It is okay to enable all the layers when you are zoomed out, except for the Populated Places layer.  This layer has a lot of data and may make the map hard to see. It is suggested that users should be zoomed into a smaller area, before "turning on" the Populated Places layer.

• Unit Collection Areas can be updated by the committee. Unit members should be able to do it at a Roundtable, a S4F meeting, or they can use one or more of the following methods:

  • Send Frank Wilder an email at frank.wilder+S4F@gmail.com with detailed road names and/or with a screen capture from Google Maps of your unit's collection area.

  • Call Frank Wilder at 484-897-0234. He has a computer tool that he can use to share his screen with other users, as long as the user is on a computer with an Internet connection.  Both you and Frank will be able to talk on the phone as you update your unit's collection area on Google Earth on his computer.

  • Print out a map from Google Maps/Bing and mark your unit's collection area(s) on the paper map.  Take a photo of the paper map and email it to frank.wilder+S4F@gmail.com.

  • Do a screen capture using Google Maps and outline your unit's collection area using a paint application. Email us the image(s) at frank.wilder+S4F@gmail.com. 

  • Find someone in your unit that is familiar with Google Earth. Get them to draw your unit's collection area(s). Export the polygon(s) as a KLM file and email it to us at the above email address. If you would like to edit your unit's collection area that we are currently using, send us an email and we will send you a copy that you can edit. See this page for additional information.

  • Using Google Maps, create a new map and use the polygon tool to outline your unit's collection area. Export the polygon to a KML file and email it to us. See this page for more information.

Updated Oct. 2023