The Salvation Army worked with the Dallas Cowboys Thursday to provide box fans to people at the organization's campus in Arlington. A heat advisory is in effect for most of North Texas through Friday evening.
Kenny Gant and Timmy Newsome joined volunteers loading fans into people's cars.
"This could be a ten, 15, 20 degree difference if you just have a fan and don't have air conditioning," Gant says. "It's a life saver, literally."
People stopping by did not know the Cowboys' alums would be there.
"I'm Mr. Cowboy. I wear a Cowboys hat every day. I'm a big Cowboys fan," one man said. "There's a line in a song that says, 'Kenny Gant, the best in town. Everybody knows we're Super Bowl bound.'"
He started talking to Gant and said he was more excited about reliving the Cowboys' teams from the 1990s than getting a fan.
"We took it for granted. I wish he was young again," he said.
The location in Arlington also has a food pantry and cooling station.
"When temperatures rise and electric bills increase, it creates a lot of stress and strain on a lot of families," says Salvation Army Major Rob Webb.
The Salvation Army opens cooling centers when temperatures are forecast to top 100 degrees at least two days or the heat index could top 105 degrees more than two days. A list of centers and other services is available at https://www.salvationarmyntx.org/north-texas/heat-relief.
"People can drop in, cool off, get something cool to drink," Webb says. "We're here to support our community and to help, no matter what the the need is."
Webb says the Salvation Army's greatest needs now are volunteers and donations of money "to help us serve more people in their times of need." Details on how to get involved are available at salvationarmyntx.org.