The North Texas and Tarrant Area Food Banks hosted mobile pantries Thursday to help families prepare for Thanksgiving. The Tarrant Area Food Bank provided food for 5,000 people who started lining up in a parking lot between AT&T Stadium and Globe Life Field in Arlington before dawn Thursday.
"Everybody deserves to celebrate Thanksgiving," Tarrant Area Food Bank Chief Executive Julie Butner said. "When you're struggling paycheck to paycheck, you may not have the means to do that."
Tarrant Area Food Bank started working with the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic during the pandemic. This was the fifth year the Cotton Bowl had volunteers at the mobile pantry.
"It's important to give back to the community that's been so good to us," Cotton Bowl Chief Executive Rich Baker said. "We're a nonprofit. We've depended on the community 89 years to support us, and it's really nice to be able to give back to the community that supported us for so long."
Butner said the mobile pantry gives parents a chance to provide a celebration for their families with fresh, nutritious food.
"We've all struggled from time to time in our lives with making ends meet," she said. "The holidays can really turn you upside down because it's expensive to put a Thanksgiving meal on the table."
People can learn more about the Tarrant Area Food Bank or donate time or money at https://tafb.org/.
In Dallas, NBA Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki helped load turkeys into cars during a mobile pantry at the Mark Cuban Heroes Basketball Center.
"We've been here so many times people now see me, recognize me, and say, 'Thanks for coming out,'" Nowitzki said. "It means a lot that people understand we're here for the long haul, trying to help out."
Like the Tarrant Area Food Bank, the North Texas Food Bank started mobile pantries in Dallas during the pandemic. The organization started working with the basketball center because it is an area with the greatest need.
"There's a food desert in this area, so there are not a lot of grocery stores, so we're hopefully providing some relief and some joy over the holidays," Nowitzki said. "It's been going the last four years, and we've been growing from food drive to food drive. We have so many amazing partners."
Dallas police and the Dallas County Sheriff's Department were directing traffic. DPS officers were working with Nowitzki and basketball center volunteers to load food into cars, and HEB brought a truckload of food.
"What's it like to get some help? It's always needed, always needed and appreciated," one man in line said. "But I'd love to get Dirk's autograph. I didn't bring anything for him to sign."
"It's exciting," a woman said. "I want to tell him thank you so much for doing this."
The line for the mobile pantry in Dallas stretched more than half a mile. The North Texas Food Bank was providing turkey, chicken, side dishes, and dessert for up to 5,000 people along with additional meals for kids who will be out of school next week.
More information about the North Texas Food Bank is available here.
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