By Ashley Legassic

Record turnout for CP Holiday Train in Kamloops

Dec 17, 2018 | 1:54 PM

KAMLOOPS — Tens of thousands of dollars, and thousands of pounds of food were donated at the Kamloops stop of the CP Holiday Train this year.

Bernadette Siracky is the Executive Director of the Kamloops Food Bank. She says this was a record turnout and donation total for the organization.

“The weather was perfect, it was on a Sunday and CP didn’t let us down with the entertainment or with the train,” Siracky says. “And Kamloops didn’t let us down either. We hit records with both the food that was brought in and the money, and the cash donations. So we collected nearly 5,000 lbs. of food and almost $60,000 to support our efforts and I’m truly grateful to the people of Kamloops who showed up and brought such great energy, even though it rained.”

The Creative Edge

PEARCE: Why play is not optional

7h ago

Question of the Week

Have you changed your driving and transportation habits since fuel prices increased significantly?

22h ago

Looped In

LOOPED IN WITH NIKKI OMEN: April 27, 2026

22h ago

Rain was a first for the CP Holiday Train in Kamloops — Siracky says the city has experienced everything from -35 C weather on the day to heavy snowfall, but never rain. She’s thankful the precipitation didn’t scare off the massive crowd of more than 2,000 people.

“Sometimes it’s hard to gauge the number of people but I can tell you that visually from the train there was a spread of people greater than ever before, (it) went from both staircases all the way to the end of the parking lot,” Siracky says. “We had over 1,000 cups of hot chocolate that went out and we sold out every hot dog and hamburger that we brought.”

Roughly $10,000 in donations came from people purchasing hot chocolate, hot dogs and hamburgers at the event, and corporate donors made their contributions as well. Siracky says CP donates $15,000 each year to the local food banks in the cities the train stops in.

by Ashley Legassic

Click here to report an error or typo in this article

Record turnout for CP Holiday Train in Kamloops

Our Community