CALGARY — Canadian Pacific Railway’s Holiday Train is back to mark its fourth exciting year of fighting hunger in dozens of communities across North America.
Two magnificently decorated Holiday Trains will visit six provinces and seven states on their combined 10,000-km (6,000-mile) voyage this holiday season to raise money and awareness for North American food banks.
“Hunger is a problem that knows no borders. Each year the Holiday Train connects individuals and communities across North America to help the staggering number of children and adults who use food banks,” said Rob Ritchie, CPR’s President and CEO.
The two CPR trains, each decorated with nearly 8,000 Christmas lights, will stop in more than 75 communities in December to help collect food bank donations, raise awareness of hunger and entertain crowds with a live program of holiday music. Money and food donations will stay in the communities where they are collected.
“We have seen a 12 per cent increase in food bank use since 1997 and an astounding 98 per cent increase since 1989,” said Charles Seiden, Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Food Banks (CAFB). “Food banks across Canada have had a very difficult summer as a result of the drought and with the increased demand it is difficult keeping pantry shelves stocked.”
The Canadian Holiday Train starts outside Toronto on Dec. 5, and visits dozens of communities between Montreal and the west coast on its 16-day journey. In addition to many of its regular stops, the Holiday Train will make its debut in Windsor, Ont., the Ottawa Valley, and parts of central Saskatchewan. Award-winning Canadian performers Tom Jackson, Beverley Mahood, Amanda Stott and Duane Steele will entertain crowds at many scheduled stops.
The U.S. Holiday train begins in Scranton, PA on Dec. 3 before visiting communities throughout Pennsylvania and New York state. The Holiday Train also returns to the U.S. Midwest for the second year, stopping in Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and other communities. The U.S. Holiday Train will feature for the first time live entertainment by seasoned Holiday Train performers.
Thousands of people lined the 2001 Holiday Train route to contribute record amounts of food and cash to local food banks, which face their highest demand during the Christmas season. The Holiday Train has helped raise more than 73 tons of food and nearly $900,000 Cdn ($540,000 U.S.) for food banks since its launch in 1999.
The Holiday Train supports the CAFB, whose members see more than 800,000 Canadians turn to food banks for help each month. In the U.S., CPR is working with local food banks and food shelves to help meet their needs over the holiday season.
Watch the CPR website (www.cpr.ca/go/holidaytrain) for more information.
Canadian Pacific Railway is North America’s first transcontinental railway and is the only transcontinental carrier with direct service to the U.S. eastern seaboard. CPR’s 14,000-mile network serves the principal centres of Canada, from Montreal to Vancouver, and the U.S. Northeast and Midwest. Its tracks feed directly into the Chicago hub from the East and West coasts. Alliances with other carriers extend CPR’s market reach beyond its own network and into the major business centres of Mexico.