(Montreal) After two years of virtual activities due to the pandemic, the Canadian Pacific (CP) Holiday Train has resumed its tour of food banks and will stop, Sunday evening, in the Montreal area.
The train will first visit West Montreal around 7:00 p.m. to offer a free festive concert, then do the same in Beaconsfield later in the evening.
This year, two illuminated trains some 300 meters long will cross eight US states and six Canadian provinces that border CP’s rail network to raise awareness of food insecurity and the importance of the work of community organizations.
Stacy Patenaude, manager of government affairs for the company, explained in an interview the “magical” experience that the Train offered to the municipalities served.
“We will cross 168 communities to offer concerts this year. […] Not only does CP make donations to local food banks, but attendees who come to concerts are also asked to bring food items that will be donated to organizations in need,” she said.
This initiative makes it possible to “spread the holiday spirit” across North America, in addition to collecting donations and food for households in precarious situations.
“We don’t have specific fundraising goals, but we donated, for example, $5,000 to food banks in Mégantic. These are donations that remain in their community and are managed on site by bank officials,” said the manager.
Canadian Pacific’s acquisition of the Chemin de fer du Center du Maine & du Québec (CMQ), which crosses the Eastern Townships, also made it possible to offer concerts in this region for the first time since existence of the program.
“To my knowledge, it’s the only train that does that,” said M.me Patenaude. […] When we arrive at our destination, we go down a stage, we offer a Christmas concert, and then the stage goes up and we leave. It’s simply to share the magic of the holiday season”.
The Holiday Train, which has been running since 1999, will travel east to west across the continent, with one terminating in British Columbia and the other in Missouri.
Since its inception, the Holiday Train has raised over 21 million and 2.2 million pounds of food for community food banks.