ROUSES POINT, NY, Nov. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- On the eve of thanksgiving, the residents of Rouses Point had much to be thankful as Canadian Pacific held its first 2008 Holiday Train event in the U.S. The beautifully lit Holiday Train will eventually make its way to Carpio, North Dakota on December 15, raising food, money and awareness for food pantries along the way.
In all, thousands of people in more than 50 communities in New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota will experience the Holiday Train's important mission in the fight against hunger. At the same time, a second identically-decorated Holiday Train will be rolling across Canada with the same goal for food hamper programs.
The Holiday Train program has raised over $3.56 million and more than 1.8 million pounds of food for North American charities. All donations collected in a community remain in that community for local distribution.
Bringing holiday cheer and festive sounds as well as the important message supporting food pantries are the U.S. Holiday Train performers; Juno award winning singer songwriter Melanie Doane and Canadian blues rocker Shaun Verreault, of Wide Mouth Mason fame.
Music from Melanie and Shaun as well as other Holiday Train performers such as Johnny Reid, Tracey Brown and Lisa Brokop are featured on a special 10th anniversary CD/DVD. This commemorative compilation features the sights and sounds of the Holiday Train and is available for purchase at a Holiday Train events.
Canadian Pacific is asking Americans to help feed the celebration in support of the Holiday Train's 10th anniversary by increasing their donations at events and by sharing their Holiday Train memories from the past and present on the internet. The Holiday Train section of Canadian Pacific's website http://www.cpr.ca/ is hosting of blog devoted to Holiday Train stories and Facebook has a "Canadian Pacific Holiday Train" page where people can become fans, check out pictures and share stories.
About Canadian Pacific:
Canadian Pacific, through the ingenuity of its employees located across Canada and in the United States, remains committed to being the safest, most fluid railway in North America. Our people are the key to delivering innovative transportation solutions to our customers and to ensuring the safe operation of our trains through the more than 900 communities where we operate. Come and visit us at http://www.cpr.ca/ to see how we can put our ingenuity to work for you. Canadian Pacific is proud to be the official rail freight services provider for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
Editors please note: For detailed schedules, musicians' biographies and photos, a route map and downloadable pictures of the train, visit http://www.cpr.ca/ and click the Holiday Train icon.
