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Community Corner

Annual Holiday Train to stop in Gurnee Dec. 4

(Geneva, Ill. – Nov. 21, 2013) – The 15th annual Canadian Pacific (CP) Holiday Train will stop at Viking Middle School Park, 4460 Old Grand Ave., in Gurnee on Dec. 4. The festival begins at 3 p.m. Food and funds will benefit Northern Illinois Food Bank.

 

The “train of lights” partners with local communities across the United States and Canada to raise food and funds for local food banks as well as to raise awareness about hunger issues. Audiences of all ages will enjoy live holiday music, a brief ceremony, and candy cane treats for kids.

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The Holiday Train reaches more than 150 communities each year for a combined distance of 6,000 miles. While the event is free, CP asks that attendees bring a non-perishable food or cash donation, and all donations stay with the pantries in the community where they’re donated.

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Since the Holiday Train program first launched in 1999, it has raised $7.4 million and 3 million pounds of food for local communities.

 

Each Holiday Train is 1,000 feet long with 14 brightly decorated rail cars, including a boxcar that has been transformed into a traveling stage for performers. The train is decorated with hundreds of thousands of LED lights. The traveling band plays more than 150 free concerts each year.

 

Food and fund donations will benefit Northern Illinois Food Bank, which provides food to more than 60,000 people each week through a network of 800 food pantries and partner feeding programs in 13 Illinois counties.

 

For schedules, photos, a route map, and downloadable pictures of the US and Canadian trains, visit: www.cpr.ca. Supporters can also join the Holiday Train on Facebook and follow the two trains on Twitter @CPHolidaytrain #CPHolidayTrain.

 

For more information about hunger in Illinois and how you can help feed our hungry neighbors, please visit www.solvehungertoday.org or join us on Facebook.

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