Students at Alberton and Superior were all smiles last week when representatives from Montana Rail Link (MRL) showed up and handed out sweatshirts to everyone. Tony Bacino, Chief of Security for Montana Rail Link gave the students a presentation about railroad safety. Then he, other MRL employees, and Monte, University of Montana’s mascot, handed out the sweatshirts to everyone, including teachers and administrative staff.

“Operation Sweatshirt” is a partnership between The Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation and Montana Rail Link. All totaled, they will be distributing over 2,800 sweatshirts with their schools logo, to four Montana schools this year. The schools include Alberton, Superior, Stevensville and Florence.

Jim Lewis, who is chief of sales and marketing, said the program is in its third year of this program. They pick three schools each year and have distributed over 5,000 sweatshirts to date. Schools have included Missoula, Frenchtown, Helena, Drummond and Bonner.

“This idea came from our 1,200 Montana employees who were asked how they would like to partner with the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation to give back to the communities in which they live and work. We pride ourselves on being a good community partner and neighbor and are proud of our employees and their involvement in the communities in which we operate,” Lewis said in a recent statement.

The employees painstakingly put each student’s name on the label of each sweatshirt to avoid confusion later on. Lewis said this part of the project takes hours to accomplish.

During Bacino’s presentation he warned students about staying off the railroad tracks and to obey railroad safety crossings. He said a freight train can weight 17 thousand tons and takes a mile to come to a stop. Also, when the lights flash at a crossing, a person or vehicle has 20 seconds to get out of the way.

After the sweatshirts were handed out, Monte took some time to pose with the students for photos and gave away hugs and high-fives.