Coronavirus News

Dallas organizations step up with generous COVID-19-inspired donations

7740Dallas team, at your service.

Courtesy photo

Dallas-Fort Worth is brimming with generosity. In an effort to ease the suffering caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, DFW organizations are stepping up with giveaways, food, PPE equipment, and other charitable donations.

There's so much generosity, we need a list. Here are some newly announced heroic efforts around town:

Dallas Area Rapid Transit is deploying bus operators to make sure Dallas Independent School District (DISD) students throughout the region still get the meals they need as they learn from home. The two agencies have partnered to deliver weekly meals for students. Using DART buses for meal delivery helps DISD reach families that utilize state-sponsored school lunches, makes it more practical for families that are transit-dependent, and helps families that are working.

It'll keep DART bus operators busy too. They will be picking up food at DISD’s distribution center and transporting it to three different Dallas pickup locations: Thurgood Marshall Recreation Center, Janie Turner Recreation Center and Highland Hills Branch Library. Each bus will deliver 1,500 meals, enough for 100 families per bus, 15 meals per student, for a total of 4,500 meals weekly for distribution by DISD employees.

The school district has already provided more than one million meals in the last two weeks, but the number of people needing food is expected to increase.

Rosewood Corporation and the Caroline Rose Hunt family are donating equipment to first responders. Specifically, they're donating 6,000 Multi-Shield face protectors to Dallas Fire and Rescue, and 50,000 packets of single-use hand sanitizer to the Dallas Police Department to help protect first responders on the front lines of the COVID-19 fight.

The face shields and hand sanitizer were produced by two of The Rosewood Corporation’s manufacturing companies: MutliCam and INW Manufacturing, both based in North Texas, who re-purposed their facilities and operations to design and manufacture PPE. The donations are a response to the city of Dallas' request for more PPE to help first responders stay safe.

Mimi’s Pizzeria is donating more than 350 meals to hospitals on April 14, including Parkland, UT Southwestern, Children’s, and Texas Health Presbyterian.

In addition, through the end of May, Mimi’s Pizzeria is offering all first responders, police officers, and medical workers 50 percent off of their orders. Mimi’s has also provided local restaurant workers with free pizzas, and contributed 20 percent of sales to Kids Save Dallas Restaurants, to give back to his fellow restaurants in need, and the Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center.

Mimi’s Pizzeria is a family-owned restaurant from Jetmir "Mimi" Ahmedi that opened on Northwest Highway in February 1991, where they serve New York-style pizza and stuffed pizza rolls.

7740Dallas is currently delivering more than 1,000 meals from seven local restaurants every week to seven COVID-19 hospital wards through April. The effort was founded by Jacob Tindall of 5G Studio Collaborative, design architect for the Omni Dallas Hotel, and has already raised more than $40,000 with funds going directly to the restaurants to purchase meals. Donations are welcome on their gofundme channel and more at www.7740Dallas.com. Hospitals and COVID-19 teams receiving food include Baylor Scott & White Dallas, Baylor Scott & White Plano, Children’s Medical Center Dallas, Methodist Dallas, Parkland, Texas Health Dallas, UT Southwestern. Participating restaurants include Babe’s Chicken Dinner House, Chop House Burger, Commissary Dallas, HG Sply, Lockwood Distilling Co., Red Stix Asian Street Food, and Wild Salsa.

Pizza Hut has launched the "Read & Feed Program," where they will donate 250,000 personal pan pizzas and make $500,000 in grants to educators through their nonprofit partner First Book. With these grants, First Book and First Book-eligible BOOK IT! educators will be able to order books or other educational resources and distribute to students where essential services are received (including emergency feeding sites, approved grab-and-go food programs at schools, public housing authorities, or other essential social service sites).

Beginning April 22, every order from First Book (up to 10,000) will arrive to educators with 25 Pizza Hut Personal Pan Pizza certificates which educators can distribute to their students. First Book educators interested in applying for a grant from Pizza Hut to support their students can visit FirstBook.org for more information.

Trademark Property Company in Fort Worth has committed $100,000 to support food-based organizations in Dallas-Fort Worth, as well as the 12 markets across the country where it operates retail and mixed-use properties, in response to COVID'19's impact on the retail and restaurant industries.

Through its C19 Community Initiative, Trademark is matching donations, dollar for dollar, up to $100,000, with a goal of raising a total of $200,000 by April 17. Their website has a list of the DFW recipients that include Allen Community Outreach, Allen Food Pantry, Minnie's Food Pantry, Tarrant County Food Bank, Meals on Wheels of Tarrant County, North Texas Food Bank, and Everybody Eats. To have a donation matched, send donation receipts to TDMKGives@trademarkproperty.com.

In DFW, the retail and mixed-use development, investment and institutional services firm, operates Galleria Dallas, Watters Creek, Waterside, and Westbend.

In-Fretta, the pizza and wings mini-chain with locations in Irving and Plano, has organized a big meal giveaway on Saturday April 18. The Irving location has partnered with Irving mayor Rick Stopfer, plus 1 Solar Solutions, DallasBuzz, OPeople Foundation, plus area eateries Mama Pita Mediterranean Grill, Chameli Restaurant, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Big Guys Gyro, and Rice Charminar Cafe, to give away 4,000 meals. Anyone who is hungry is welcome to drive up and get pasta, pizza, and chicken & rice. It's taking place at the In-Fretta Restaurant at 3341 Regent Blvd. from 11 am-2 pm.

Balcones Distilling, the Waco-based distillery, is donating 400 gallons of sanitizer to the Dallas Police Association, Plano Police Department, and the Dallas Fire Fighters Association on April 14. In an effort to support the surrounding Texas community and those serving on the frontlines in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

charity

Animal News

Advocates find false info being fed to Texas legislators on pet store law

Puppy mill dogs do not have a great life.

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A national pet store chain has been implicated in a dishonest campaign to try and influence Texas lawmakers on an upcoming bill making its way through the legislature.

The pet store chain is Petland, and they're engaged in a battle against The Ethical Pet Sale Bill (SB 1652 / HB 3458), which would encourage pet stores to stop selling at-risk animals from puppy mills and support shelters and rescue groups instead.

The Ethical Pet Sale bill has support from rescue and animal groups across Texas, who are all grappling with a glut of animals on the streets and in overcrowded shelters. That pet overpopulation problem gets even worse when pet stores import more animals from puppy mills in states like Missouri and Ohio.

If Texas passes the bill, it will join a growing number of states and cities who've already passed similar laws including Dallas, Austin, Bryan, College Station, El Paso, Euless, Fort Worth, Houston, New Braunfels, Pasadena, San Antonio, The Colony, Sherman, and Waco.

Most reputable pet store chains such as PetSmart and PetCo do not sell cats and dogs. Petland does. The company operates 84 stores in the U.S., and fights bills like this by hiring lobbyists to discourage legislators from supporting these bills.

Phony list
In this case, a two-page summary was distributed to some Texas state senators listing reasons why they should oppose SB ("The evidence from other states, especially California, demonstrates that these types of bans do more harm than good"), plus a list of organizations that are opposed.

Most of the organizations opposed to the bill profit directly from animals, such as Petland and Puppy Dreams, a North Texas chain that also sells animals.

But the list also had surprising names including PetSmart, PetCo, and Pet Supplies Plus — the three largest pet store chains who all have a history of supporting adoption of shelter animals.

Their presence on the list caught the eye of animal advocacy groups such as Texas Humane Legislation Network and Humane World For Animals, who've worked with the big three in the past.

"We became aware of Petland Inc.’s lobbyist apparently sharing the attached document with legislators, claiming the listed pet and pet product industry leaders are opposing this legislation," said a spokesperson from Humane World of Animals (HWA). "We checked in with contacts at Petco, Petsmart, and the American Pet Products Association, and all of them deny opposing this legislation or giving Petland permission to list them on this opposition letter. It’s very possible others listed in this letter also did not give their permission to be included — we only connected with the those listed above at this stage."

CultureMap also contacted the three major pet store chains and received similar responses that they had not been consulted nor did they issue a rejection of the bill, although none wanted to be quoted.

The misrepresentation is concerning because it muddies the water with false information at a time when the bill is still under consideration:

HB 3458 — the version going through the Texas House — passed a House Committee with a 10-1 vote and has been moved up the chain towards passage.

SB 1652 — the version going through the Senate — still needs to get through the Senate Committee, Calendars, and a floor vote.

"By creating a false narrative about the position of the above industry leaders, this letter has the potential to sway lawmakers at a critical juncture in the legislation’s journey," the HWA spokesperson says.

Two Petland stores in the Dallas area — in Frisco and Tyler — have been the subject of undercover investigations. Petland Webster recently settled a lawsuit with several families that the store allegedly sold sick puppies to, and several lawsuits have been filed against Petland Woodlands in Texas, claiming the store sold sick puppies. One pet owner told the House Committee that he'd spent $20,000 on medical care of a puppy he bought at a pet store.

"Banning the retail sale of puppies and kittens is a common-sense solution to protect both animals and Texas consumers," said Dean Senator Judith Zaffirini of Laredo, who filed the bill. "My SB 1652 would help reduce pet overpopulation, promote responsible breeding practices and prevent families from unknowingly purchasing sick animals. With varying local ordinances in place and further action at the city level now restricted, it is important for the state to provide a clear and consistent approach that prioritizes both animal welfare and consumer protection."

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