ARLINGTON, Texas — On Saturday morning, No. 11 BYU will play one of its biggest games in program history, as the Cougars take on No. 4 Texas Tech for a Big 12 championship.
While Saturday will be an important moment for the university, Friday night's fan event will be just as important for members of the Arlington community.
On Friday night at the Big 12 championship fan fest at Globe Life Field, COUGS CARE set up a food drive for Arlington Charities. BYU fans attending the event made food and monetary donations that will go to helping members of the Arlington community this holiday season.
"This is going to be such a significant, positive impact," said Heather Lowe, development director for Arlington Charities. "When SNAP benefits were on pause, we were having 20 new online applications a day and at least 10 new walk-ins a day. We got to the point where we were working off of a wait list ... the timing cannot be better for this. It's hard to convey how much of an immediate need it's gonna fill for us."
Before the game, COUGS CARE, a group led by local alumni chapters across the country that focuses on leading community charity efforts, posted Arlington Charities' wishlist to the public.
Before the event even started, they had gifted around 750 pounds worth of donations.
The event also had an anonymous donor, who said they would match any monetary donations made until the end of the month.
After the event, the food donations made will be driven back to a warehouse where volunteers will sort the food and begin the process to distribute to members of the community.
To find out how to donate to Arlington Charities, you can visit their website at www.arlingtoncharities.org.