COAST Cares

In honor of 2024 being a Leap Year, COAST staff planned a "Day It Forward" campaign in support of fellow nonprofit Gather. All farebox collections on February 29 and contributions made by COAST staff and board members were donated along with non-perishable food and personal care donations collected during a Leap Day Stuff-A-Bus event at Hannaford on Central Avenue in Dover. In addition, COAST matched any bus tickets purchased and donated to Gather clients via COAST's website during the second half of the month.

In total the campaign resulted in COAST presenting Gather with donations of $929.92 in cash, 597 pounds of food, and 450 single ride bus tickets for distribution to their clients.

"This year we have an extra day to do something good and make the world a better place," said Vanessa Polychronis, COAST Community & Employee Relations Manager. "COAST and Gather serve many of the same people and communities. We are grateful to everyone who donated on Leap Day and applaud the good work that Gather does every day to eliminate hunger around the Seacoast."

For the holidays, COAST staff teamed up with Community Partners to provide gifts to local kids and teens in need. Community Partners provided COAST with a list of needs that included children from 15 different local families. The items on the wish lists spanned from toys and games to essentials like winter gear and soap. Within just three days of sharing the list, COAST staff members had volunteered to fulfill every single need. We hope to be able to continue this tradition in future years.

On Earth Day COAST staff volunteered to make our corner of the world a little greener by cleaning up trash along Sumner Drive (our street) in Dover. We removed over 15 large bags of trash as well as larger solid wast materials. In comparison to before the cleanup, Sumner Drive looked fantastic!

A simple, small effort to make a meaningful impact in our community.

In observance of the 20th anniversary of September 11, 2001, COAST donated all fares collected on Saturday, September 11 to the New Hampshire Police, Fire, and EMS Foundation (nhpfef.org). Combined with donations collected from COAST staff members, COAST was able to donate a total of $536.83. 

In December of 2020, COAST held a Holiday Raffle Fundraiser that sold $5 raffle tickets to staff for the opportunity to win several winter-themed prizes. As a result of that fundraiser, COAST was able to donate a total of $505.00 to the New Hampshire Food Bank.

COAST held a series of "Jeans Day Fridays" to raise money for the Community Action Partnership of Strafford County. On Fridays, COAST employees who donated $5 to the fundraiser were allowed to wear jeans to work for the day. Through this initiative, COAST collected and donated a total of $280. 

Starting in 2020 COAST began offering free rides on any of our fixed route buses and ADA paratransit services to adults on their way to, or returning from, voting in primary and general elections for local, statewide, and federal offices.

Voting is an important role that all voters should be encouraged to engage in, and we want to eliminate the barrier of transportation and its related costs.