Railway CU Making Winter Warmer

This credit union helped launch The Polar Present Express clothing drive, providing more than 900 children with winter clothing and Christmas gifts too! 

The Polar Present Express all began with an idea presented by BNSF Trainmaster Tony Keel and his wife Margaret. Margaret, who works at Centennial Elementary School, noticed how many students lacked proper winter gear and wanted to help. Tony brought his wife’s concerns to Paul Brucker at Railway Credit Union to do a clothing drive. With this idea in mind, both businesses started to think bigger – and The Polar Present Express was created.
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With the mission to make a child’s Christmas a little brighter, Railway Credit Union teamed up with two BNSF employees, Bryan Kocourek and Amy Vetter, to make the clothing drive a success. With the goal of filling up one rail box car (the size of four semi trailers) with winter clothing, hygiene products, and toys, The Polar Present Express relied on the generosity of individuals and local business to make this mission possible. After speaking with representatives at many establishments, over 20 local businesses became sponsors and drop-off locations to help collect donations and support this event.

The Mandan Public School Foundation served as a conduit to 422 children from 9 schools, with ages ranging from 9 months to 17 years old. As donations were collected, Railway Credit Union organized all items based off age, clothing size, and toy interests. Donations were then matched up to children based on the “wish-lists” provided by the foundation. These lists included what each child would like for Christmas, their personal interests, as well as clothing and shoe size. Each child on the provided lists were matched up with 1-2 clothing items, plus 2-4 Christmas gifts, as well as personal hygiene products suitable for their age. 

As the school’s needs lists were completed, Bryan, Amanda, and RCU employee Aurora Hayes distributed the children’s items to the respective schools. Three trailers full of donations were also delivered to the Salvation Army which then distributed the donations from the Polar Present Express to Bismarck Public Schools.

Between October 26 and December 10, The Polar Present Express collected $15,000 in monetary donations along with $7,500 worth of new winter clothing, hygiene products and toys. Monetary donations were used to purchase additional items on children’s Christmas wish lists and the remaining cash of $3,056.90 went to pay off outstanding student lunch bills. In total, The Polar Present Express was able to provide gifts and supplies to over 900 children in the Bismarck and Mandan School districts.
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Railway CU believes that every child deserves a present during the holidays, and with the support and devotion from our community and sponsors we made that possible for many children and families in the Bismarck-Mandan community. We wish to thank the many businesses and individuals that brought this event to a level that far exceeded expectations! The Christmas spirit is alive and well in Bismarck and Mandan.