When the Ohio State University’s Buckeyes face off against the University of Miami Hurricanes tonight, 80,000 students, alumni and fans will pack AT&T Stadium to cheer stridently for their teams.
But on Tuesday morning in an airy warehouse at the North Texas Food Bank in Plano, around 120 students and alumni from both schools worked together to pack food and supplies to help some of the 744,000 people in North Texas who struggle with food insecurity.
Serena-Jenna Rabi, a senior at the Ohio State University majoring in health sciences from Columbus, said she was proud to be volunteering with members of her school and the University of Miami to help the hungry.
“We learned today that you can fill the Cotton Bowl [stadium] with nine times the number of people who are food insecure in North Texas,” Rabi said. “Even though none of us went to college in Dallas, we figured it’s time to give back … because community service brings people together.”
Breaking News
(From left) Ohio State University’s mascot Brutus Buckeye helps Will Garcia, 16, and Chris Garcia make boxes as volunteers representing OSU and the University of Miami pack food at the North Texas Food Bank in Plano on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
Rabi, dressed in a scarlet vest to represent Ohio State, joined other students, some clad in scarlet and some in the Miami Hurricanes’ green and orange, on three assembly lines. They packed small cartons of milk, cans of beans and cups of mandarin oranges into cardboard boxes as some volunteers drove forklifts and pop music blared over the speakers. Sebastian the Ibis, Miami’s mascot, and Brutus Buckeye, Ohio State’s mascot, representing the state’s buckeye nut, lent a hand as well.
Two of the three assembly lines were to pack food that will be given to children so that they have access to food on weekends when they aren’t getting free school meals, said Cassie Collins, director of volunteer operations at North Texas Food Bank. The third assembly line was to pack dry goods such as rice and beans for senior citizens. The food will reach these beneficiaries’ tables within two to four weeks, Collins said.
Ohio State University has been teaming up with rival teams to do a community service event ahead of the bowl game they’re playing in for the last 26 years. In 2023, before the Buckeyes faced the Missouri Tigers at the Cotton Bowl game, students from both schools volunteered at the Tarrant Area Food Bank in Fort Worth. This year, the school also gave $10,000 to the North Texas Food Bank.
University of Miami alumna Quinn Solomon of New Jersey talks to Ohio State President Ted Carter as he and mascot Brutus Buckeye drop off their bags of food to be weighed at the North Texas Food Bank in Plano on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
Walter “Ted” Carter Jr., president of Ohio State, said that these community service events help people look beyond football rivalries and make a difference in people’s lives.
He said it was especially momentous this year, given the last time Ohio State and Miami faced off in a bowl game in 2003, Ohio State won in a shocking upset, ending Miami’s 34-game winning streak.
“We won the national championship in a very highly controversial game. Believe it or not, when we played that game, Miami and Ohio State alumni did an event like this together … helping the community is so important.”