Media Relations Contact:
Morgan Lyons
Mark A. Ball

November 23, 2009

Donations collected by DART employees

DART stuffing buses with goods for the holidays

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) employees are collecting donations of new socks, blankets and toys and inviting their customers to join them in helping area agencies with "stuff-a-bus" campaigns.

"Comforting of the Soul"
Bus operators and maintenance team members will begin collecting new blankets and socks at DART's Northwest Bus Operating Facility, 2424 Webb Chapel Extension, Dallas, on Monday, Nov. 30. Look for a specially marked bus to take donations from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Friday, Dec. 4. Radio station KRNB (105.7) will broadcast live from that location on Dec. 4.

The second-year campaign known as "Comforting of the Soul" collected more than 500 blankets and 800 pairs of socks last year to support five selected Dallas area nursing homes: Forest Lane Health Care, Manor Care Health Services, Renaissance at Kessler Park, South Dallas Nursing Home, and Meadow Health.

Other drop off locations include DART Headquarters, 1401 Pacific, Dallas; DART's Red Bird Transit Center, 4831 South Hampton, Dallas; DART's North Irving Transit Center, 5601 Riverside Drive, Irving; and DART's South Garland Transit Center, 4051 Leon Road, Garland. A "special collections bus" in downtown Dallas on Pacific Avenue, south of DART's West End Transit Center, will accept donations of blankets and socks from the public Wednesday, Dec. 2, from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m.

DART Santa Cops back on patrol
For the ninth consecutive year the DART Police Santa Cops will take Christmas meals and toys to about 200 North Texas families. DART police officers started the program in 2001. Police officers and staff choose the recipients, most of whom are DART customers. To support the program customers are invited to help stuff a bus with unwrapped toys at Mockingbird Station, 5465 E. Mockingbird Lane, Dec. 10, between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Join DART and radio station 97.9 "The Beat" as they help Santa Cops deliver holiday cheer to youngsters in need.

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