Prosper, Frisco Teens Bring Joy, Encouragement Through Lovepacs

Prosper, Texas — One in five North Texas children endure food insecurity, but one local organization, Lovepacs, strives to change that. In honor of Global Youth Service Day sponsored by Youth Service America, Prosper and Frisco students lent a few helping hands recently to the cause.

“We chose to work with Lovepacs because it was an opportunity that would directly bless kids in our own community,” said Katie McBride, a leader to a local group of teens that belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “We became aware of needs in our community that [often] go unnoticed.”

Answering the call, these Prosper teens came together last month to decorate the boxes of food that will be delivered to in-need families, while also collecting donations and providing them directly to Lovepacs.

Meanwhile, Sarah Shelton — a Frisco resident who meets with high school teens from the Church of Jesus Christ every school day at 5:45 a.m. in a scripture study program called seminary — wanted to find a project for her class to illustrate something they were learning about serving others. Decorating the Lovepacs boxes was a perfect fit for her students.

“Our students are always happy to help others out,” she said. “I thought it was a great opportunity for our class to have fun together by being crafty and serving at the same time!”

According to Lovepacs’ website, the organization was born out of a desire to help children in need by providing meals to students who would otherwise go hungry during school holidays.

Their site explains, “In November 2011, the four founding families were made aware of six kids at Camey Elementary in The Colony who were being sent home from school every Friday with a backpack of food because they were not getting enough to eat on the weekend…We found out many of these kids were going to be hungry over the Thanksgiving holiday when they were out of school for a week.”

But their mission to feed hungry children didn’t stop there. In the last 13 years, Lovepacs’ reach has grown, now covering more than ten North Texas cities, including Prosper and Frisco, as well as areas of Houston and Austin.

In 2023, Lovepacs provided meals to almost 60,000 children across the state of Texas during school holidays and breaks. Through the generosity of the local community, nearly 73,000 meals were served in Prosper last year. 

Lovepacs relies on local families and organizations to help meet the needs of their communities.

“We have almost 40 young ladies in our group, ages 11-18,” says McBride, “who find purpose and joy in serving others. We have worked with Refugee Services of Texas to provide needed items for new mothers and babies, packed meals with Feed My Starving Children, made blankets for local children in foster care, cleaned up trash at a local park and made freezer meals for recently widowed members of our community. We are excited to continue to work with [Lovepacs] in the future.”

The Lovepacs mission says, “Our vision is that communities experience God’s love by serving together to provide food for children in need.” You can find details of their ongoing needs at Lovepacs.org, on JustServe.org, or on Facebook pages for each location.

Featured photo: Teens from Frisco, Texas, decorate Lovepacs boxes as part of their early morning scripture study class. As Jesus taught His followers to serve others, the students learned in a direct way how rendering service can bring joy. Photos provided by Sarah Shelton.