The Philomath Scout Lodge will host a turkey dinner from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday to benefit the Philomath Food Bank and the Kids Kloset.

Don't worry about bringing the checkbook to this meal of thanks, though. Attendees should donate two canned or packaged food items, or one new baby item per plate.

"This is a community effort to help our neighbors less fortunate in these unstable economic times,' said Jeff Fuller, vice president of the Philomath Scout Lodge.

"It's time for the Scout lodge to start giving back. That's what we've been all about since the beginning," said Bill Mayer, president of the organization.

Jeff Lamb, president of Philomath Community Services, a nonprofit that includes the food bank and the Kids Kloset, said the benefit couldn't have come at a better time for residents.

"It seems like every day the economy gets worse. Our demand is up," Lamb said. While Philomath Community Services has had plenty of local support, it never has been the focus of a benefit event like this.

Items donated at the dinner will be loaded directly into a cargo truck and delivered to Philomath Community Services.

For those who choose to donate money at the event, one dollar will purchase about six pounds of food, according to Fuller.

The Philomath Scout Lodge board of directors has set a goal of collecting 5,000 pounds of canned food or baby items.

"That's a lot of food. I might have overstepped our boundaries there," Mayer said. "But we're a group of people who set high goals. From what I've heard, the cupboards are pretty bare at the food bank and the Kids Kloset."

Residents began thinking of creating the Scout Lodge in 2001, and were collecting pop cans for the project just two years ago. The 11,000-square-foot building, which cost about

$2 million, had its grand opening in September.

The Philomath Scout Lodge, 660 Clemens Mill Road, is situated on a former mill site that includes ponds, wetlands and plenty of wildlife.