Archive for the ‘Positive News’ Category

The North Texas Food Bank has committed to building and transporting 4,000 family food boxes to the Houston and Beaumont Food Banks for distribution to families as they come back to the area and we need your help. They are now seeking food donations. Items needed are:

1. Fruit Juices
2. Canned Meats
3. Beef Stew
4. Chunk Light Tuna in Water
5. Pork and Beans
6. Canned Soup
7. Canned Vegetables
8. Canned Fruit
9. Spaghetti in Tomato Sauce
10. Dried Beans
11. Dried Rice
* No glass containers please.

You can purchase these items in pre-packaged bags at your neighborhood Kroger, Tom Thumb and Albertsons. Customers can simply leave their bags at the store and they will be donated to the NTFB.

You can also drop off donations at the NTFB located at 4500 S. Cockrell Hill Rd., Dallas, 75236

Call 214-330-1396 if you want to schedule a food or fund drive. Or donate online at ntfb.org.

The North Texas Food Bank is working in a strategic partnership with the American Red Cross, Salvation Army and the Volunteer Center of North Texas to assist with mass evacuation as a result of Hurricane Ike. So far the NTFB has distributed over 80,000 pounds of water and snacks to shelters. Here’s how the organizations are coordinating the response:

• The North Texas Food Bank is currently providing water, juices and snacks and will provide food for meal preparation when needed. Monetary donations are needed too.
• The Salvation Army is providing meals at all mass shelter locations.
• The American Red Cross is managing and overseeing shelter operations.
• The Volunteer Center of North Texas is coordinating volunteer placement for the relief effort.

Chipotle is setting up shop in Las Colinas and you are the lucky person to take advantage of it!

Stop by this Wednesday (10 Sep 08) from 11a - 7p and you will get hooked up with free drinks and food! The location is the corner of Highway 114 and O’Connor Boulevard.

For several years, an amazing group of volunteers show up each and every day, regardless of the time, to enthusiastically welcome home our Troops.

If you’ve never been at Dallas / Fort Worth International Airport when the troops come by, it’s an amazing experience. You will hear the cheers and applause before you see the troops and as they come by. Everyone stops what they are doing; they stop walking down the concourse, if they are seated they will stand, old and young alike start cheering and applauding. It’s the very least we can do for those that stand to pay the ultimate price for our freedoms.

Everyday at Dallas / Ft Worth International Airport, there is a flight coming in. Unfortunately, the site that typically has the updated info is not currently online, however, you can email the following address for info on the daily troop arrivals: JonesB4@aol.com

The City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA) is pleased to announce Dallas’ inaugural Free Night of Theater, to be held from Thursday, October 16 through Monday, November 10, 2008. Presented in conjunction with Theatre Communications Group (TCG), Free Night of Theater offers theatergoers over 3,000 free tickets to more than 26 Dallas-area theaters. Dallas is one of 120 communities across the country participating in the event, which campaigns to attract new audiences to live theatrical performances.

Theatergoers will be able to reserve tickets through the Free Night of Theater website, www.freenightoftheater.net, beginning at noon on Wednesday, October 1, 2008. Tickets can only be reserved online and reservations are handled on a first come, first serve basis. Each participating theatre will set a reservation ticket limit for their productions. Once tickets have been reserved through the website, patrons will be able to pick up their tickets at the will-call window of the individual theater’s box office on the night of the show. Patrons are strongly encouraged to visit a theater that they have never attended.

As of September 1, more than 3,000 tickets (valued at more than $50,500) have been pledged for Free Night of Theater Dallas. Participating theatres include: African American Repertory Theater, Charles W. Eisemann Center, The Company of Rowlett Performers (C.O.R.P.), Contemporary Theatre of Dallas, Dallas Children’s Theater, Dallas Hub Theater, Dallas Theater Center, Echo Theatre, Garland Civic Theatre, ICT MainStage, Jubilee Theatre, Lyric Stage, MBS Productions, One Thirty Productions, Pocket Sandwich Theatre, Repertory Company Theatre, Shakespeare Dallas, Teatro Dallas, TeCo Theatrical Productions, The Black Academy of Arts and Letters, The MET Theatre, Theatre Britain, Theatre Three, Uptown Players, WaterTower Theatre, and WingSpan Theatre Company.

“We are ecstatic that Dallas will join the other national communities offering rich and diverse live theatre opportunities to our citizens free of charge,” said Maria Munoz-Blanco, Director of Cultural Affairs for the City of Dallas. “Free Night is the perfect opportunity for Dallas to celebrate and build upon the contributions the theatre community has made to our cultural landscape.”

In response to the excitement generated by the program, Teresa Eyring, executive director of TCG, remarked, “The Free Night of Theater program has provided the theatre community a unique opportunity to open its doors to thousands of new theatergoers and introduce that audience to the joys of live theatre. We are very excited that the program has proven to be so successful in bringing in non-traditional theatre audiences to theatres from coast to coast.”

Free Night of Theater was conceived at TCG’s National Conference in 2003 as a way to remove perceived barriers that have historically prevented audiences from attending not-for-profit theater. The program was piloted in 2005 in three cities; Philadelphia, San Francisco and Austin. That year over 150 theatre companies welcomed nearly 8,000 theatergoers of which an estimated 80 percent were attending the theatre for the first time. Since 2005 the program has grown tremendously. In 2008, the fourth year for Free Night, the program will include over 600 theatre companies in over 120 cities and will provide an estimated 75,000 tickets. Recent attendance research gathered by Shugoll Research reports that 41 percent of last year’s Free Night patrons returned and purchased tickets to another performance at the same theatre following their Free Night experience. In fact, 80 percent of attendees to the 2007 program reported that they had attended live theatre somewhere since Free Night.

Some of the 2008 program participants include the following communities:

Cities: Austin, TX; Baltimore, MD; Charleston, SC; Chicago, IL; Cincinnati, OH; Cleveland, OH; Dallas, TX; Indianapolis, IN; Kansas City, MO; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Portland, OR; Salt Lake City, UT; San Diego, CA; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; St. Louis, MO; Washington, D.C.; and many more.

States: Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, and Wisconsin.

According to Brad Erickson, executive director of Theatre Bay Area and participant in each of the previous three Free Night of Theater events, “Since the campaign’s pilot year…we have seen an extraordinary response from theatres, audiences and the whole community. The demand for live theatre—when it’s made accessible to all—is overwhelming. We’re bringing in new audiences—young people, people of color, people from all walks of life—and the research tells us they are going back for more. Free Night of Theater has thrown the doors of our theatres open wide.”

For more information on Dallas’ Free Night of Theater, visit the national Free Night website at www.freenightoftheater.net. Information is also available through the Office of Cultural Affairs website at www.dallasculture.org.

The following Dallas-area hotels are offering discount room rates to evacuees from Hurricane Gustav:

• MCM Grande Hotel, Desoto
• Days Inn, Garland West
• Pyramids Hotel, Allen
• Fairfield Inn & Suites, Las Colinas
• Studio 6, Dallas NW
• Hampton Inn, Las Colinas
• MCM Elegante, Dallas
• Howard Johnson Dallas
• Candlewood, Dallas Galleria
• Hampton Inn, Allen
• Candlewood Suites, Dallas and Arlington
• Staybridge Suites, North Dallas/Addison
• Wingate by Wyndham, Las Colinas
• Springhill Suites, Arlington
• Hampton InnDallas, Arlington
• Doubletree Club, Farmers Branch
• Candlewood Suites at Fossil Creek (a pet-friendly hotel)
• Hilton Garden Inn, Allen
• La Quinta Inn, Dallas LBJ
• Americas Best Value, Waxahachie
• Extended Stay Deluxe, Dallas Las Colinas
• Holiday Inn Express, Dallas NW Expressway
• Red Roof Inn, De Soto
• Hilton Bella Harbor, Rockwall
• Embassy Suites, Dallas Market Center
• Staybridge Suites, Dallas
• Fairfield Inn & Suites, Las Colinas
• Fairfield Inn & Suites, Denton
• Courtyard, Addison Midway
• Embassy Suites, Dallas Park Central
• Quality Inn Suites, Fort Worth
• Country Hearth Inn, McKinney
• Cattle Baron Quality Inn Suites
• Hotel Intercontinental, Dallas Addison
• Doubletree Hotel, Dallas Market Center
• Sun Suites, Dallas
• Sun Suites, Plano
• Sun Suites, Lewisville
• Hilton, D/FW Lakes
• Quality Inn & Suites, Fort Worth
• Sun Suites Extended Stay Hotel

Evacuees can also call 211 in Dallas for assistance in finding emergency shelters.

In the rush for back to school clothes, this weekend is the annual tax-free weekend that lasts from 12:01a Friday through midnight on Sunday. The qualified purchases are clothing and shoes below $100 in price.

Expect better sales this year compared to last year as the economy and retail sales are down across the board.

Also, to keep to your budget, here are some tips for staying on track:

1. Use extended hours to shop when crowds aren’t so big.

2. Make a list after you’ve inventoried what’s already in the closet and what still fits.

3. Have a budget and stick to it.

4. Research offers before you go. Sales are better than average this weekend.

5. This isn’t just for school kids. You can stock up on diapers, pajamas or a new bathing suit.

A Denton day-care center has been shut down by the state after a 5-year-old boy walked out an open door there last week, crossed a busy street and was discovered half an hour later at a Hooters restaurant.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services ordered Imagination Station in the 2300 block of San Jacinto Boulevard to cease operation Wednesday.

On July 23, the 5-year-old boy walked out the back door of Imagination Station sometime after 4:51 p.m., according to a timeline prepared by Denton police. The boy entered a Pep Boys auto parts store, took a pack of gum and left. He then crossed Dallas Drive, a busy entranceway to the city from Interstate 35E, and entered a RaceTrac convenience store. Store security video showed him taking more gum from the front counter there and then walking to the back, where he took a root beer from a refrigerated case.

The boy left the store after about four minutes and walked west to Hooters, a restaurant and bar. The child walked in, looked around as though he were lost and quickly left.

Employees called police at 5:20 p.m. They said they followed him outside and found him at the I-35E service road.

Police say the employees of Hooters saw the boy about to cross the service road to the interstate and quite possibly saved the child’s life.