Media Relations Contact:
Morgan Lyons
Mark A. Ball

December 19, 2012

DART lends a holiday hand with "Friendly Food Fight"

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) employees and agency consultants hosted a “friendly food fight” from Dec. 3 to 18 that gathered nearly 68 tons of food in support of Union Gospel Mission and their efforts to feed the hungry in North Texas.

The result was a sizeable increase over previous years thanks to a large donation from Dallas based Schepps Dairy, a subsidiary of Dean Foods Corp. Also collected was $5,250 in cash donations.

The total amount assembled during DART’s 16-year effort equals $49,670 in cash and more than 304,000 pounds or 152 tons of food; the equivalent weight of 10 DART buses.

The Union Gospel Mission is a non-profit agency that has provided food, beds, clothing and shelter to homeless men, women and children in the Dallas area since 1949.

On Saturday, Dec. 22, DART Police will also provide holiday meals and toys to more than 270 families through their Santa Cops program. Many of the items to be handed out were collected through DART's "stuff-a-bus” campaigns in early December at Bachman and Mockingbird Stations.

Donations also supported another DART employee initiative, "Comforting of the Souls," which for five years has provided blankets and warm clothes to residents of six area nursing homes.

David Perry, Union Gospel Mission of Dallas Board Member and Bill Thompson, Executive Director, are presented with 68 tons of food and $5,250 collected during DART's annual "Friendly Food Fight" by the agency's President/Executive Director Gary Thomas.