ARLINGTON, Texas – Helping the North Texas families was the spirit of the day as the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic and Tarrant Area Food Bank combined forces once again with the Dallas Cowboys, American Airlines and Arlington Police and Fire departments to hold its third Thanksgiving Mega Mobile Market on Thursday at AT&T Stadium.
 
The brisk, beautiful morning in Arlington was the perfect conditions to distribute Thanksgiving-related meals to 5,000 families. In total, 300,000 pounds of food were distributed during the four-plus hour mass food distribution event. Each box of nutritious food per family included a turkey or chicken, pantry items such as green beans and stuffing, fresh produce and other non-perishable items needed to complete a holiday meal.
 
The protein and portions of the food distributed were secured by the collective efforts of the MW Cares Foundation and MW Logistics, Albertsons/Tom Thumb and The Big Good, the charity organization created by legendary college football coach Gary Patterson and Grammy Award-winning R&B artist and Fort Worth native Leon Bridges.
 
A spirited group of volunteers, led by more than 300 American Airlines employees and Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic staff members, dished out food with uplifting music provided by KLTY Radio filling the air. Whataburger and Ticketestore provided burgers, chicken, chips and water for the volunteer contingent on hand.
 
This Mega Mobile Market marked the third-straight year that Tarrant Area Food Bank and the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic teamed up to host a holiday distribution event and the fourth time the two organizations have collaborated to lead mass distribution events at AT&T Stadium. The four Mega Mobile Markets at AT&T Stadium (November 2020, May 2021,  November 2021 and November 2022) have combined to provide food to more than 18,300 families.
 
"You can't put an event on of this size without a lot of preparation and support from our community partners," said Julie Butner, President & Chief Executive Officer, Tarrant Area Food Bank. "I'm surprised that we have almost as many cars today as the first year we did this at the height of the pandemic. The food costs are hitting everybody. Food costs have increased by 13 percent over last year. These are families that are typically working, trying to make ends meet. When the food costs go up 13 percent, you welcome the opportunity to get a Thanksgiving meal."
 
Creating this opportunity for the North Texas community is especially important this year with the tighter food supply chain demands to go along with the higher food costs. That's why the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic stepped up once to work with Tarrant Area Food Bank to support this now annual tradition on the grounds of its office home.
 
"We've been really fortunate over many, many years to have the support of this community. That's really why the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic is what it is. We think that it's really important, because of that, that we give back and support people who have supported us over the years. This is a great way to do that," said Rick Baker, President/Chief Executive Officer, Cotton Bowl Athletic Association."
 
Tarrant Area Food Bank (TAFB) was founded in 1982 by a group of Fort Worth residents concerned about hunger in their community. Now the primary source of donated food for hunger-relief charities and feeding programs in Tarrant and 12 surrounding counties, TAFB serves 1,000,000 meals each week.
 
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