For the seventh consecutive year, Market Street locations in the Dallas/Fort Worth area are participating in the national Souper Bowl of Caring campaign to collect financial and food donations for local food banks.

The annual event kicked off on Jan. 17 at a pep rally at Bryant Elementary School in Arlington. Souper Bowl of Caring is a collaborative, nationwide effort of retailers, NFL teams, congregations, schools and individuals working together to eliminate hunger. The 2014 goal for Dallas/Fort Worth is to raise $1.3 million in cash and food to benefit the North Texas Food Bank and Tarrant Area Food Bank. Together, these food banks serve 25 counties and more than 550 hunger-relief agencies in the DFW area. 

“Souper Bowl of Caring is a wonderful opportunity for us to connect with our communities in a meaningful way, which has been a fundamental commitment of our company throughout its 97-year history,” said Kurt McMillan, regional vice president of United Supermarkets, LLC. “In this highly competitive industry, it is heartwarming to see our fellow grocery retailers again join together to help ease the growing burden of food insecurity. All seven of our DFW area Market Street locations are committed to mobilizing our team members and store guests in order to make the 2014 campaign the best ever.”

To simplify the donation process, Market Street is selling $8 pre-packaged bags of food which can be purchased at checkout.

Hundreds of schools, churches and local businesses across the state will participate to tackle hunger in their local communities. The campaign runs through Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 2. Since Souper Bowl of Caring was founded in 1990, volunteers have collected more than $90 million in cash and food, with 100 percent of all donations going directly to community food banks, soup kitchens or other charities chosen by each group. To learn more about Souper Bowl of Caring and view live results, visit http://www.souperbowl.org/hubs/dfwtx.