ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
Today is New Year’s Day, marking the official end of the holiday season, and in early December, the Kansas Department of Transportation’s Southwest District made Christmas brighter for some area children.
The district office hosted three toy drives in the area, one each in Liberal, Garden City and Dodge City through a partnership with Soldiers for Christ.
Southwest District Public Information Officer Yazmin Moreno said employees in offices in the three communities got together and bought presents for children in need and donated them to Soldiers for Christ.
Moreno said KDOT is incredibly proud of employees in the Liberal subarea who helped with the effort.
“We’re just happy to give back to our community,” she said. “Here in Liberal, we’re very proud of our community. We always look for ways to give back, especially during the holiday season.”
Moreno said KDOT likewise wants to shine a spotlight on the outstanding team members for taking the time to make a meaningful difference in the lives of children and families in communities.
“We’re just happy we can do it,” she said. “There’s some people who have that need, and we’re just privileged to be able to help those in need.”
Moreno said at KDOT, putting communities first is at the heart of what the agency does, whether by clearing roads to help to get to loved ones, improving traffic safety or giving back in other ways.
“We hope it’s impactful,” she said. “We hope we do touch the lives of others. We hope we can do this again next year and the years to come.”
This is the Southwest District office’s first year doing the toy drives, and Moreno said Liberal, Dodge City and Garden City were used as the locations for the drives.
“Usually, we only do it in our offices where we have more employees,” she said. “Our other subareas are pretty small. They house between two to four employees. We try to incorporate this in areas where we’re going to make the most impact.”
Moreno has done toy drives in her previous jobs, and having gained knowledge from those drives, she said initiating KDOT’s drive was easy.
Moreno added much of the credit for the toy drive goes to District Safety Specialist Eric Fisher, who helped her organize the drive.
Moreno said KDOT is grateful for the compassion, generosity and commitment of its employees to serve others.
“We want to say thank you for making this season brighter for others,” she said.
