Taste! At The Star returns to fight childhood hunger in North Texas

Frisco’s glittering dining room at The Star will again be put to a hard local task: helping feed children who do not know where their next meal will come from. Taste! At The Star is set for Friday, April 17, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Ford Center at The Star, where the North Texas Food Bank will use food, auctions and entertainment to raise support for childhood hunger across North Texas.

The scale of the need is stark. The food bank says one in five children in its 12-county service area is food insecure, affecting more than 254,000 children. Through its Nourish the Future child programs, the organization works with schools, community organizations and social service partners to distribute more than 40 million nutritious meals to children facing food insecurity each year. That makes the fundraiser more than a social night out for Frisco guests 21 and older; it is one of the food bank’s signature revenue engines for a year-round response to hunger.

Presented by Tyson Foods, the event is co-chaired by Janet Ryan, managing director and private client advisor at Bank of America Private Bank, and Tom Walker, chief financial officer of the Dallas Cowboys. The setting also underscores how central The Star has become to civic life in Frisco, with the Dallas Cowboys world headquarters serving as the backdrop for a fundraiser aimed at children far beyond the district’s stadium lights and restaurants.

Taste! At The Star also comes with a record of measurable results. Last year’s event helped provide nearly 2.5 million meals and raised about $828,000, fueled by gourmet tastings from more than two dozen local restaurants, live entertainment by the Justin Till Band and auctions. The 20th-anniversary Taste of the Cowboys event in 2024 raised 1.6 million meals, showing how the fundraiser has grown from a high-profile gala into a dependable source of support for food assistance across the region.

The North Texas Food Bank says its broader Nourish North Texas campaign is aimed at the root causes of food insecurity, including health, education and financial stability. In practical terms, that means the money raised at Ford Center at The Star is intended to keep food moving through the School Pantry Program and the Food 4 Kids backpack initiative, turning Frisco’s most visible charity night into school-day meals and weekend support for children who need it most.