Kansas City Southern Announces Results of Holiday Express Fundraising Campaign
November 12 2015 - 11:00AM
Business Wire
Kansas City Southern (KCS) (NYSE: KSU) announced today that its
15th annual Holiday Express will distribute $159,500 in gift cards
to The Salvation Army at stops along the Holiday Express route. The
gift cards are designated for the purchase of warm clothing and
other necessities for kids in need. The 2015 fundraising effort was
in memory of Willis F. Kilpatrick, who passed away in June.
Kilpatrick was among the founders of the KCS Holiday Express in
2001 and was its head elf through 2012, retiring in early 2013.
“The KCS Holiday Express is an important project for our company
and a joyful way to give back to the communities through which we
operate,” said KCS CEO David L. Starling. “This year, we pay
tribute to a special member of the Holiday Express family, so we
are especially grateful to our employees, vendors and friends who
made a contribution to honor his memory.”
Special thanks to the major sponsors who helped make this year’s
charitable contribution possible, including Bartlett Grain, David
and Candace Starling Charitable Fund, Husch Blackwell LLP, The
Kansas City Southern Charitable Fund, Michael and Marlys Haverty
Family Foundation, Paragon Products, LLC, RJ Corman Railroad
Company, Steel Dynamics, Inc., Trinity Industries, Inc. and Watco
Companies. Additional sponsors are listed on the KCS website.
The train will stop in 20 communities in seven states on 24
dates. The complete schedule is available on the KCS website and
the Holiday Express mobile app. Download the app by clicking here
from your phone or search stores for KCS Holiday Express.
Led by KCS’ Southern Belle business train, the Holiday Express
train includes a smiling tank car “Rudy”; a flatcar carrying
Santa’s sleigh, reindeer and a miniature village; a gingerbread box
car; an elves’ workshop; the reindeer stable; and a little red
caboose. Each car is dressed in lights. At each stop, visitors can
board the train, visit with Santa and his elves and tour the inside
of three cars of the festive six-car train. Each event is free and
open to the public.
The 2015 KCS Holiday Express theme is Darby Bear. In recent
years, one of the toys in the free gift bags for kids has been a
small teddy bear in the colors of a KCS locomotive. This year’s
bear is called “Darby”, a nickname given to Kilpatrick by his
family. The bear is yellow, his favorite color.
The KCS Holiday Express was built on the tradition of the Santa
Train, which ran on a rail line bought by KCS in 1997. In 2000, a
group of warm-hearted KCS employees noticed that the Santa Train
was the only Christmas some kids had, and that some kids did not
even have essential items like coats, hats and gloves, so they
committed to elevating the project. In 2001, volunteers transformed
a retired freight train to the experience that communities enjoy
today.
Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., KCS is a transportation
holding company that has railroad investments in the U.S., Mexico
and Panama. KCS' North American rail holdings and strategic
alliances are primary components of a NAFTA Railway system, linking
the commercial and industrial centers of the U.S., Mexico and
Canada.
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Kansas City SouthernC. Doniele Carlson, 816-983-1372
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