The need for food is big at the East Texas Food Bank, and there are several ways to help. One East Texas business has collected more than 700,000 pounds of food since 2010!

During the holidays there seems to be more awareness about hunger, and there's usually an overflow of gratitude too.  Both of those things help food donations flow to stock shelves at food pantries, and the East Texas Food Bank is hoping to benefit in a big way this holiday season.  Thousands of East Texans are depending on it.

KLTV said every dollar donated can provide up to eight meals.

John Soules Foods has collected more than 700,000 pounds of food since 2010, and they have an employee food drive going on again this year to add to that total.  Couldn't we all do that?  It would just take an email to co-workers and a cardboard box in the break room to collect it.

Cash also helps the Food Bank of East Texas, and you can click HERE to donate. You can even schedule it for after Thanksgiving if today isn't your day.  Some companies will match donations of money or time.

The East Texas Food Bank says on its website that it serves 26,900 people every week, and 252,900 every year.  I had no idea they reached so many people, or that so many people needed help.  This is the time of year when their services are the most in-demand, and when the need for donations is most crucial.

Most of us will be surrounded by more food than we know what to do with on Thursday, and shaving a little off the top to donate to someone else wouldn't hurt one bit.  The food bank says one in five adults and one in four kids in East Texas don't know where their next meal is coming from---this equals about 240,000 people in our area.

That's a wake-up call for all of us.

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