Sunday, May 5, 2024
Once again, Gatesville and its surrounding communities answered the call to help feed local families and individuals in need at the 34th annual Food for Families drive on Friday, Nov. 17.
As of Monday, Nov. 20, Gatesville has raised a total of 635,982 pounds of food and monetary donations. This number will continue to rise after a final count is determined on Nov. 30.
Although it does not surpass last year’s record of 839,950 pounds, Gatesville’s Care Center Director Deral McWhorter said it is still the second largest food drive number that the community has raised.
“I want our town and surrounding area to know that if a man is at the plate and hits a 500-foot home run and the next time he hits a 450-foot home run, it may not have been as long or as good as the first one, but it was still a home run,” McWhorter said. “I want the people here that contributed so much so sacrificially to understand they hit a home run.”
All local donations will remain at the Gatesville Care Center to serve the hungry in Coryell County. For those who were not able to donate on Friday, the Gatesville Care Center is still accepting donations through Nov. 30.
“It’s really important because our numbers are growing,” said Debbie Blanchard, Co-Director of the Gatesville Care Center. “In September, I think we served 124 families from this community. What we raise during this food drive gets us through until the next food drive.”
Gatesville’s donation site received generous support from the community. Numerous churches, schools, businesses, and organizations across Gatesville and surrounding areas donated thousands of pounds to this year’s food drive.
Many local groups showed up to help volunteer at Friday’s event, including students from Gatesville High School and military members from U.S. Army Fort Cavazos.
Jennifer Penny, student council sponsor and teacher at Gatesville High School, said members of Gatesville’s student council volunteered in-between breaks from classes from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Friday.
“As leaders in the school, they are given an opportunity to give back to the community and set an example for students at the younger campuses,” Penny said.
Food For Families is an annual event with sites set up across nine counties. It is sponsored by the Boy Scouts of America, HEB Grocery Company, and KWTX News 10. As the largest one-day food drive in Central Texas, the continued mission of Food for Families is to help feed people in need throughout the region.
As of Friday, Nov. 17, KWTX reported that a total of 2.3 million pounds of food has been collected this year across all the counties participating in Food for Families. All donated food in each county serves the people in the county where it was collected.
“I want our community to know that they did exceedingly well and to be very elated and proud of themselves,” McWhorter said. “On behalf of Debbie Blanchard and myself, thanks again to everybody teaming up together to make this a remarkable food drive.”
