Moose Jaw breaks record in donations at this year’s Holiday Train …Over 8,000 lbs of food collected through Good-Buy to Hunger Food Drive

Even though the CP Holiday Train rolled into town earlier than usual this year, locals still got an opportunity to turn out in numbers with their families to see this popular annual tradition on December 6th, in support of the Moose Jaw & District Food Bank.

This year marks a record-breaking year for the Holiday Train and the Food Bank, as the community was able to raise over 8,000 lbs of food for our local Food Bank. CP once again teamed up with Golden West Radio and the Moose Jaw CO-OP in hosting the “Good-Buy to Hunger” Food Drive.

CO-OP set a goal of selling 800 bags of food this year to donate but surpassed that goal and sold 832 bags (over 8,000 lbs.), compared to just over 5,000 lbs. collected last year.

“We want to say a huge ‘thank you’ to Canadian Pacific, Moose Jaw CO-OP and the community for raising a record amount of donations this year. We received over 8,000 lbs of food which we are very grateful for,” said Deann Little, Assistant Manager at the Food Bank. In addition, CP presented a cheque of $10,000 to the Food Bank. During performances at the Holiday Train, locals continued to donate food and money to the Food Bank on site. As a result, the Food Bank was able to receive an additional 966 lbs of food and $1,033.53 in cash donations. “The Holiday Train was very early this year but we were happy to see that so many people got to come, especially children. This is the first time we were able to see so many kids because it was in the afternoon. We can’t thank the community enough for their continued support,” said Little.

The Food Bank also expressed gratitude to Tim Hortons that was on location handing out hot chocolate and coffee to people as they braved the cold weather. For those who would like to donate to the Food Bank, you can visit 305 Fairford St W to donate cash or by cheque or you can donate online at www.mjfoodbank.org. Over the last two years, the Food Bank has seen a 17 per cent increase in the number of people who use the local Food Bank. So far this year, the MJ Food Bank has distributed 3,968 hampers, with an additional 46 individuals signing up in November, the highest the Food Bank has seen in a month.

The Holiday Train saw performances from entertainers Sierra Noble, Terri Clark and Kelly Prescott. The CP Holiday Train program launched in 1999 and has since raised more than C$14.5 million and gathered 4.3 million pounds of food for communities along CP’s routes in Canada and the United States.