CCS, CAK families tackle hunger
points on the scoreboard this season.
But in one of the first games of the 2026 campaign, fans of Concord Christian and Christian Academy of Knoxville ensured success for families across the area, too.
In each team’s opener, fans brought plenty of food as their admission tickets to Concord Christian School.
The food was donated to Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee.
“It’s all season through our partnership with Rivalry Thursdays and WBIR,” said Marvin Figgins, director of Marketing for Second Harvest. “It’s called 10Tailgate x Tackling Hunger. Every week, two high school teams compete against each other. Before their game on Friday, they collect food donations and online donations. The team that raises the most money receives a trophy, and the team that collects the most food also gets one. The winners are announced on air every Friday.”
Technically the CCS-CAK game took place on a Saturday, Aug. 22, but the effect remained the same.
“This particular game was a one-time food drive for us,” Figgins added. “During halftime, we also received a $10,000 check from Axel Logistics.”
The drive brought in 11,007 pounds of food, which equates to 9,173 meals provided for families across East Tennessee.
“I mean, it was incredible,” Figgins said. “To not only wrap my head around but to see so many families walking in with bags of food. It wasn’t just canned goods, either. We had peanut butter, pasta, types of different vegetables, canned fruits, canned meats. Everything we normally ask for — it was a blessing to see the community come together for football, but also to be involved in a bigger purpose: a mission of fighting food insecurity in East Tennessee.
“The fact that we were able to pull together 11,000 pounds of food alone, that goes such a long way,” Figgins continued. “Families at Concord Christian and CAK, it was just amazing to see. You can’t write that.”
“It was insane,” added Kristi Rule, the chief development officer for Second
Harvest. “When I was in the facility, they had it all on pallets outside the office, and I was blown away at the community response. Donated food is very important to us, but when people have the option of donating a dollar versus donating a can, the dollar will go much further than the can.”
“But don’t get me wrong, the donated products will be essential when we are building food boxes and making sure families are fed.”
