Pitt and the Salvation Army to Host "Christmas Day at Pitt"

PITTSBURGH-The University of Pittsburgh and the Salvation Army are teaming up to make Christmas Day a little brighter for more than 900 needy adults and children.

"Christmas Day at Pitt: A Salvation Army Dinner for the Homeless and Needy" will take place from noon to 2 p.m. Dec. 25 in The Marketplace, a restaurant in the Litchfield Towers, 3955 Forbes Ave., Oakland. This is the fourth year for the Pitt-based event, which attracted 300 guests its first year and about 700 last year.

Volunteer staff from the Sodexo University Dining Services will prepare the meal. More than 100 volunteers from Pitt's Faculty and Staff In Service to Community will welcome guests and help serve.

The 300 children in attendance will receive an "Angel Tree" gift supplied by Pitt staff from the Offices of the Chancellor, Provost, Community Relations, Governmental Relations, Institutional Advancement, Panther Central, Student Affairs, and Human Resources, as well as the University Library System and Institutional Review Board. Each guest will receive a gift bag, which will include, among other items, a hat-glove-and-scarf set donated by a University employee.

The event is made possible through an agreement between Pitt's Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and the Sodexo University Dining Services.

For more information, contact Steve Zupcic, assistant director for community relations at Pitt, at 412-719-0286.

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12/17/09/tmw