2019 Food for Families sets new record thanks to generous Central Texans

Thank you Central Texas for helping make the 30th Food for Families the largest in its 30-year history.

Early and unofficial numbers show the annual one-day food drive raised 2,318,361 pounds of food, exceeding last year's record total of 2,221,369 pounds by about 97,000 pounds.

Here are unofficial numbers for pounds of food collected in the nine counties participating in the annual drive.

Bell County 590,092

Bosque County 62,093

Coryell County 569,682

Falls County 26,660

Freestone County 264,000

Hill County 146,959

Limestone County 60,614

McLennan County 569,261

Milam County 2,000

Food For Families is an annual project for the Longhorn Council, Boy Scouts of America, H.E.B. Grocery Company, and KWTX News 10.

Together with food pantries all across Central Texas, this one-day food drive collects non-perishable food and stocks the shelves of area food banks and pantries beyond the holiday season.

The yearly effort is generously supported by dozens of large and small Central Texas businesses, fraternal organizations, schools throughout the region and individuals who dedicate their time and resources to making the drive a success.

On the Friday before Thanksgiving, volunteers from the Boy Scouts, H.E.B. Grocery Company, and other community organizations collect food in 9 counties. Food For Families is the largest one-day food drive in Texas.

All donated food serves the people in the county in which it was collected. Central Texans have generously donated food and money totaling more than one million pounds each year for the past seven years.

In 2018 alone, 2,221,369 pounds of food was collected.