More than 20,000 sandwiches and Guinness World Record
Patricia Powell never thought one day she would be in the Guinness Book of World Records,
much less trying to figure out how long a line of 20,332 sandwiches would make. Well,
she is, and if you're wondering, that many sandwiches are 1.44 miles long, which is
long enough to be a Guinness World Record for the Longest Line of Sandwiches. Powell,
a senior administrative coordinator at UNT Health Fort Worth’s Texas College of Osteopathic
Medicine, is a volunteer for Tango Charities, which broke their own Guinness World
Record for the Longest Line of Sandwiches at Globe Life Field in Arlington in June.
“It was so amazing to be a part of this event,” Powell said. “Giving back to the community
absolutely feeds my soul. It is wonderful to be around so many people who share the
same purpose that I do.”
Tango Charities is a hunger-based food organization in Dallas that will host “Feed
the City” events monthly throughout the country. Powell is the Feed the City leader
for Arlington, where the event was hosted, and was part of the team that started at
4 a.m. to set up for this mammoth achievement. The event ended up with almost 1,000
volunteers there to help make sandwiches throughout the day for the record-breaking
effort.
“I never imagined I would be part of a Guinness World Record,” Powell said. “It was
so exciting, and I'm so proud of Tango Charities and everyone involved for achieving
this amazing milestone. Being part of something that made such a positive impact while
setting a world record made the experience even more meaningful.”
Following the conclusion of the colossal line of sandwiches, they were distributed
the same day through local nonprofit partners to families that are facing food insecurity
in North Texas. Food insecurity in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex is a burgeoning
problem, with over 1.3 million people facing food insecurity according to Feeding
America’s Map the Meal Gap data. This represents a rate of 15.7%, which ranks third
in the nation for the highest number of food-insecure individuals among U.S. metro
areas.
UNT Health's food pantry first opened in 2015 and offers free, supplemental groceries
to students with two locations on campus to assist UNT Health students impacted by
food insecurity. Powell has been motivated to serve others and give back to her community.
“Food insecurity became a passion of mine because I genuinely love serving others and giving back to my community,” Powell said. “Once I found this charity, I was hooked. It's a challenge that affects people from every background, and I believe it's a problem we can make a real difference in solving when we work together. Knowing that my time and effort can help provide meals and hope to families in need is incredibly rewarding. I wake up on Saturday mornings excited for the opportunity to serve, connect with others, and be part of something that has a meaningful impact. It's more than volunteering; it's a chance to make a difference, one person and one family at a time.”