DALLAS - To be champions of community service is the goal of nearly 50 kids from the West Dallas Community Center, who created projects for Slant 45.
SLANT stands for service, learning, adventures in North Texas and the 45 is for Super Bowl 45. The projects are up to the kids, and the goal is to reach 45,000 logged community service hours.
From tree trimming to trash cleanup and painting, welcome to the vision of the Slant 45 project. More than 200 kids and 300 adults worked tirelessly in the heat Friday to make the West Dallas Community Center the gem it is.
Part of the team was Richard Holt, the Bank of America Dallas market president.
"We wanted to do a significant project," he said. "We wanted one that took 1,000 hours, and this is one of the ones that met that criteria, and we're going to surpass those hours today."
Prep work started early this week, and volunteers even cleaned houses nearby as a service, too. For the families the project supports, a little makeover and TLC means a lot.
"We're finding out a number of these kids are third generation to attend this community," Holt said. "So, it's great to give this back."
The group worked to spiff up the center.
"This mural is an eight-foot by 70-foot mural that some local artists have sketched out, and then we'll be painting the other sides of the building," Holt said.
It's estimated by the time Slant 45 is complete, 20,000 elementary-age students will log 45,000 hours of service and a combined 45,000 hours of service in more than 100 communities.
E-mail: sslater@wfaa.com
