FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 4, 2008

EVERYBODY RIDES METRO FOUNDATION AWARDED $10,000
Grant will subsidize rides to school and after-school activities

CINCINNATI – Area school children are getting a lift.

A $10,000 grant to the Everybody Rides Metro Foundation (ERM) from the Charles H. Dater Foundation will help cover the cost of transportation to school and after-school activities for eligible area students. Specifically, the money will subsidize Metro bus tokens for low-income students to allow them to travel to and from school and after-school activities. The grant was approved at the 2008 Dater Foundation Board of Directors meeting.

"We are so grateful to the Charles H. Dater Foundation. Without supporters like this, some of these kids might not have access to reliable transportation to school or may not be able to participate in enriching after-school activities," said Ted Bergh, Executive Director of the Everybody Rides Metro Foundation.

Everybody Rides Metro is a charitable foundation that subsidizes Metro bus tokens and passes for low-income individuals to support self-sufficiency. The foundation, created by the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority board of trustees, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and is the first foundation of its kind in the country. The foundation is non-profit organization and is not part of SORTA or Metro. For more information about ERM, visit www.everybodyridesmetro.org.

The Charles H. Dater Foundation, founded in 1985, makes grants to non-profit organizations in the tri-state. The goal is to help carry out projects that benefit children and focus in the areas of arts and culture, education, healthcare, social services and other community needs.

Metro is a non-profit public service of the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority, providing about 23 million rides per year in Greater Cincinnati.

# # #