A December 2017 Breakfast with Dads event at Billy Earl Dade Middle School in Dallas attracted roughly 600 volunteers after an appeal for 50 additional mentors. About 150 boys participated. Organizers moved the gathering into the gym to accommodate the turnout.
The event circulated widely in January 2018, which helps explain why retellings often assign it the wrong year. Volunteers spent time with students, including helping them tie neckties.