EL PASO, Texas — The $500 million FirstLight Federal Credit Union has become a champion for helping feed the hungry in West Texas following its drive to collect foodstuffs for the West Texas Food Bank in conjunction with its marquee role as sponsor of the annual FirstLight FCU Sun Bowl Parade.

Indeed, this year's collection campaign, timed to coincide with the Nov. 22 parade through El Paso streets, turned out to be "the largest food drive in the history of the city with over 100 volunteers collecting 55,000 pounds of food before and during the parade." That kind of poundage brought high praise from national food bank leaders, citing the CU's public service role in spearheading an extraordinary campaign to help feed the hungry throughout counties of West Texas.

The 55,000 pounds in cans and other foodstuffs piled along the parade route "is truly a huge amount and a testimony to the good work of the credit union," said a spokesman for America's Second Harvest, a Chicago-based agency that helps service a national network of 200 food banks across the U.S., including the West Texas Food Bank.