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Christmas giving makes 'Seven's Heroes' TV news

Christmas giving has been a hallmark of ITD for decades. Many of the district offices make annual contributions to local charities. The latest effort came Wednesday (Dec. 14) when the District 3 office handed over boxes filled with toys for the Salvation Army to Boise’s KTVB Channel 7 representatives for its annual Christmas Toy Drive.

The donation will be featured on the station’s “Seven’s Heroes” segment Sunday night (Dec. 18).

A pair of large donation boxes in the District 3 main lobby and by the maintenance office were filled by employees with toys in November and December.

Janet Gregory, office manager for D-3 Maintenance, has been involved with the effort the past decade. “We at D-3 have donated toys to the kids of the Treasure Valley for the past 10 years,” she said. “We feel it is our way of giving back to the community.”

Gregory said she has a real soft spot for the youngest children, especially this time of year. “To me, Christmas is all about the kids.”

D-4 employees raise $3,871 for charity during Christmas lunch

It wasn’t a record-setting amount for the employees of District Four, but the generosity flowed as the group raised $3,871 for three local charities and gathered several hundred pounds of food for a pair of food banks during 21st Annual Christmas Lunch and Raffle Tuesday (Dec. 13).There was a slow start to ticket sales for the dozens of raffle items during the first couple weeks of sales. However, as the more than 150 party-goers arrived, ticket sales quickly made up ground to surpass previous years. Others saved a little money to drive up the price on a handful of auction items.

In the end, donations of $1,290 will be distributed each to the Mini-Cassia Christmas Council, The Hunger Coalition of Bellevue, and the East End Providers in Kimberly. Recipients of the food drive are Helping Hands and Hearts in Gooding and Helping Hands of Challis.

“All I can do is just thank everyone in the district. It’s a pretty good tribute to the people we have here that even in these tight times that we all are having that they will still help the less fortunate with almost $4000. What else can I say, that pretty much speaks for itself,” said Jeff Freiburger, Christmas Committee Chair.

While the amount raised was below the goal to outpace 2010 – a staggering $5,158 – the tally was enough for the second most ever raised by D-4 employees for the local charities.

Thanks goes to the members of the Christmas Committee who spend countless hours organizing the lunch, raffle and entertainment. Also, thanks to the many groups and individuals who donated raffle and auction items. And thank you to all who purchased tickets and the auctioned items, donated canned food and all those who came to enjoy the party – everyone in attendance helped make this an enjoyable and memorable event.

Photos: Boxes of toys at District 3 headquarters Wednesday awaited pickup and delivery to needy children for Christmas (top). District 4 looked a little like the North Pole and Santa's workshop (middle photo). ITD employees donated many of the items for Tuesday's auction, which netted nearly $3,000. Rafael Rodriguez waits for Santa and Mrs. Claus (Doug Hoskinsen and Billi Miles) to read the name of the lucky winner of a rocking horse (bottom photo).

Note: Other districts are planning similar holiday activities. Please send photographs and information about those events to The Transporter for publishing on Dec. 23. Have a wonderful and safe Christmas.