20 December 2006
CPR Holiday Train Breaks Three Million Dollars for Food Banks
The CPR Holiday Train, which has been rolling across Canada, the
Northeastern and Midwestern United States since 1 Dec 2006, raising food, money and awareness for food banks in more than
110 towns, cities and First Nations ended its run on Tuesday evening with final shows in Agassiz, Haney-Maple Ridge and
Port Moody, British Columbia.
Official totals are still being tallied but an estimated 230,000 pounds of food and more than $400,000 have been donated to
local food banks at over 70 communities in Canada this year and, 76,000 pounds of food and more than $190,000 have been donated to
local shelves in the U.S. Northeast and Midwest. In its eight years the Holiday Train program has played an important role in
collecting more than three million dollars and over 1.6 million pounds of food to help feed North America's hungry.
This year's performers on the Holiday Train were Canadian rock band Wide Mouth Mason and singing star Lisa Brokop. Their mix of upbeat
songs, rocking Christmas tunes and special moments with children at each stop made for glowing reviews from more than 150,000 people
between Montreal, Quebec and Port Moody, British Columbia.
A second Holiday Train visited 40 communities in the Northeast and Midwest United States in support of hunger relief in America. U.S.
Holiday Train entertainers included: Tracey Brown, Willy Porter and Kelly Prescott. An estimated 80,000 Americans took in the
spirit and magic of the fundraising events as the train with its hundreds of thousands of lights rolled through the U.S.
Since launching in 1999, the Holiday Train magic, with its two trains that are each decked out with hundreds of thousands of bright
lights and decorations, continues to grow as more communities request it to stop and perform. Final numbers for 2006 for both
countries should be confirmed in early January.
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