Once Again, SEPTA Employees Give Santa a Helping Hand and Lots of Toys
By Mike Dunn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The holiday spirit was very much in evidence today at Septa headquarters, in center city, as thousands of toys donated by transit agency employees were gathered for a yule delivery.
On the seventh floor of Septa headquarters, workers unloaded dozens of barrels of toys that had been donated since Thanksgiving by thousands of other workers at one hundred of Septa's transportation and maintenance locations throughout the region.
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"We have employees from all of our locations, sorting toys that have been collected, and we'll be going out on Tuesday to at least eight agencies throughout our service area to deliver the toys," says Carol Looby, secretary of the Septa board, who has been organizing the drive for more than a quarter century.
And Looby thinks this has been the best response ever.
"Doing the drive for over 25 years now, it just seems like this year everyone just went an extra step," she says with pride.
Marlene Whitta, another Septa employee who was helping, agreed.
"It gets better and better every year," she tells KYW Newsradio. "We actually do a good job. And it makes the kids happy."
So, in the morning, the toys will be loaded -- not on a sleigh, but on SEPTA buses -- for delivery to local social service agencies.