KILLEEN, Texas (KWTX) – The Food Care Center in Killeen got a head start on its portion of the Food For Families drive on Tuesday.

Between now and Christmas, the Food Care Center is preparing to give out more than 2,500 holiday meals.

On Tuesday night, Killeen’s Scouts of America Troop 287 helped them knock out nearly half of that number – in just a couple of hours.

“It has stuffing, mashed potatoes, turkey gravy, and some other stuff that you would have for Thanksgiving,” said Claire Kerfoot, a troop member.

According to the Food Care Center’s executive director, the ripple effect that comes from the scouts helping lasts much longer than just the holiday season.

“It’s been a tradition,” said Raymond Cockrell.

“They’ve done this the last seven or eight years. They’ve come and helped us build these bags and distribute to folks at both Thanksgiving and Christmas. I believe that if we teach children to have a servant’s heart at an early age, they’ll carry it with them for the rest of their lives, and what’s a better example of that than the scouts?”

The bags Troop 287 filled tonight will be available to both active-duty military members and civilians on November 20-21, and on December 20th.

But in Cockrell’s eyes, one of those events is just a little more special than the rest.

“On November 20, one of my favorite events we’ll have all year long, we’ll have more than 1000 active military that we’ll give the turkeys and the thanksgiving bags of groceries to,” said Cockrell.

If you’d like to donate to the Food Care Center, they’re open between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Tuesday through Friday at 210 N. Sixteenth St. in Killeen.

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