Several local Whataburger locations hosted a monetary and canned food donation drive to give over $11,000 and 2,500 canned food items to the East Texas Food Bank.

Local Whataburger restaurants donated over $11,000 and 2,500 pounds of canned food to East Texas Food Bank to help fight against hunger.

Nicole Jones from DKT Investments Ltd., a Whataburger franchisee, presented the organization a check for $11,607 that was raised in the Tyler area to reduce food insecurity among East Texas families.

Along with the fundraiser, the restaurant locations participating in East Texas had a canned food donation drive to benefit the food bank. The donations totaled 2,518 pounds of canned food items.

According to the food bank, the donations will help provide 95,000 meals to people in need.

The East Texas Food Bank alongside its 200 partner agencies and feeding programs strengthen families by providing nutrition education and benefits assistance and lead the area in hunger-relief work.

ETFB serves 26 counties in the region and has helped 111,208 households in fiscal year 2021. One in five East Texans, including more than one in four children, are facing hunger, according to the nonprofit’s website.

The T.J. & Laverne Plunkett Foundation and the East Texas Communities Foundation also recently presented the food bank with a $10,000 grant to help fight hunger.