By Sloane Samberson
Staff Writer

Hungry and hopeless, thousands of families across North Texas do not make enough money to buy food for their standard family of four.

The joy of helping a family in need is enough of an inspiration to donate time and money for many Coppell residents.

Local Boy Scouts along with the help of GracePoint Church of Coppell gather once a year to box food in order to stock food pantries such as the one at GracePoint, Services of Hope and Reach 4 Hope.

This year, members of GracePoint, Boy Scouts and local citizens are meeting at the GracePoint campus on Feb. 15 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. to start and finish the process of boxing cans.

Last year GracePoint completed 325 boxes of food. Two boxes can feed a family of four for a week.

“My family and I have participated in the boxing portion of Scouting for Cans for as long as I can remember. It is actually a lot of fun and does not feel like labor at all,” New Tech High@Coppell sophomore Joseph Tanner said.

In North Texas, approximately 30,000 Boy Scouts participate in Scouting for Food. The process is very simple yet effective.

Boy Scouts put a flier and a bag out on doors a week before pick up. Then they meet on the morning of the event and pick up the bags and bring it to GracePoint.

Volunteers then look at the foods expiration dates to make sure it will not expire in the next year. Some of the food may sit in the box for up to a year.

Volunteers then sort it by type. These types include meat, veggie, bean and fruit. They make sure each box has the same quantity of product in it, though they may have a few different miscellaneous products like pasta or dessert mixes.

Any products that are still good, but expire within the year, are donated to other food pantries that will use them before those dates. In the past years, the food has been donated to CCA and Services of Hope.

“Both CCA and Service of Hope are outstanding ministries that reach out to those in need in the community,” said Tina Brown, GracePoint’s director of PEACE (Missions) and communications.

Tom Thumb has sponsored the food drive for 26 years and collects cans all throughout the month of February. Collection barrels are set out for those who want to participate in feeding those who are hungry.

Scouting for Cans is not only a great way to bond with the people in your community but more importantly a great way to help those in need.

GracePoint, the Boy Scouts and the families in need will be more than gracious with the donations of canned food you bring this scouting season.