For Immediate Release
November 6, 2009

NEWS ADVISORY / PHOTO OPP

CONTACTS: Susan Frye, Community Events Director, Tarrant Area Food Bank, 817-332-9177, ext. 110
Andrea Helms, Communications Director, Tarrant Area Food Bank, 817-332-9177, (cell) 817-657-9175

"Kick the Can" competitors plan to tempt judges with cash and cans
as Tarrant Area Food Bank kicks off 28th Annual Holiday Food Drive
2009 Holiday Food Drive critical to meet increasing need

VISUALS: Adults and kids kicking cans around pallets of food in the middle of Main Street while mascots--ranging from a banana and a peanut butter & jelly sandwich to a restaurant chain's Red Robin and the Cowtown Marathon's Cowtown Charlie--lead the crowd in cheers; 10 costumed mascots (including those just listed) competing in a special contest for the Mascot Challenge trophy.

WHAT: KICK THE CAN relay races kick off Tarrant Area Food Bank's 28th Annual Holiday Food Drive. A court judge and other community leaders judge the relay races while a local radio personality gives a running commentary on the wild, crazy activities of racers and their cheering squads. In addition to awards for fastest times, HUMOROUS AWARDS are presented in categories such as Cutest Costume, Mascot Challenge, Most Spirited and Oops!, which is for near accidents as kickers try to keep wayward cans on the street and out of the crowd. Bribing the judges with donations to the Food Bank is encouraged.

"Bribery is alive and well for this event," said Susan Frye, Tarrant Area Food Bank's community events director. "In a time-honored tradition of Kick the Can, many teams plan to offer the judges donations of food and funds for the Food Bank in return for favorable votes for awards," she said. A Tarrant Area Food Bank truck will be parked at one end of the block to receive food from teams and guests.

WHEN: Friday, Nov. 6, 2009, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Relay races start at 12 noon.

WHERE: Downtown Fort Worth on Main Street between Third and Fourth Streets.

WHO: Relay teams from, among others, Capital One, Encore Acquisitions, Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG), Saddle Creek/Del Monte, Fed Ex, Haltom's Jewelry, Monnig Middle School, Pepsi, Regions Bank, Six Flags Over Texas, Southern Union Gas Services, Starbucks, Tarrant County Bar Association, Tarrant County Credit Union, Tarrant County Sheriff's Department, and the Hispanic Organization of Postal Employees (HOPE). The 8.0 Restaurant will offer a special $10 lunch to spectators and racers as a fundraiser for Tarrant Area Food Bank.

JUDGES: The Honorable Brent Carr, County Criminal Court #9; Jack Miller, owner, Haltom's Jewelers; Steve Kellogg, market manager, Fort Worth Capital One.

WHY: The HOLIDAY FOOD DRIVE launched by Kick the Can is CRITICAL TO helping supply the 1.7 million or more pounds of food per month Tarrant Area Bank has been distributing the past four months to 300 hunger-relief charities serving families and individuals. DEMAND FOR FOOD ASSISTANCE has climbed 20 percent over the past year.

Tarrant Area Food Bank's network of partner charities in 13 counties provides emergency groceries to and average of 35,000 households and serves more than 500,000 snacks and prepared meals on their sites. The counties served include Tarrant, Denton, Cooke, Wise, Parker, Johnson, Hood, Somervell, Palo Pinto, Erath, Bosque, Hamilton and Hill.

CHILDREN account for more than one-third (35%) of those receiving food aid, although they represent only 24% of the population in the counties served by Tarrant Area Food Bank. In those counties, more than 224,000 children are enrolled in the National School Breakfast or Lunch Program and are often at risk of not getting enough to eat at home.

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