Kansas City Southern Announces 20th Anniversary Holiday Express Will Benefit Salvation Army in 20 Communities
September 08 2020 - 8:30AM
Business Wire
Kansas City Southern (KCS) (NYSE: KSU) announced today that it
would celebrate the 20th anniversary of its KCS Holiday Express
program and partnership with The Salvation Army with a fundraiser
to benefit the Salvation Army in 20 communities on its U.S. rail
network. Due to the pandemic, KCS will not operate its Holiday
Express train, which traditionally draws large crowds in free,
public events.
“KCS is pleased to celebrate 20 years of its Holiday Express
program benefiting The Salvation Army in communities throughout our
U.S. rail network,” said KCS president and CEO Patrick J.
Ottensmeyer. “While it is not safe to gather for free visits with
Santa Claus and tours of the Holiday Express train this year, the
need for the charitable component of this program is greater than
ever.”
The 20 communities that will receive the funds raised for The
Salvation Army include Kansas City, Joplin and Mexico, Mo.,
Beaumont, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Houston, Laredo and Port Arthur,
Texas, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Shreveport and Westlake, La.,
Gulfport, Jackson and Vicksburg, Miss., Decatur, Ark., East St.
Louis, Ill., Pittsburg, Kan. and Heavener, Okla.
Over 19 years, the charitable component of the KCS Holiday
Express project has raised well over $2.1 million, which was
donated to The Salvation Army at each scheduled stop to help
provide warm clothing and other necessities for children in need in
the local community. Anyone interested in making a tax-deductible
contribution to the 2020 KCS Holiday Express fundraising campaign
may do so at http://www.salarmy.us/HolidayExpress.
The KCS Holiday Express was built on the tradition of the Santa
Train, which ran on a segment of the network 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 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 KCS Holiday Express
experience that thousands have enjoyed for the past 19 years.
In 2020, we honor one of the founding volunteer elves, Tillie
Caileff, who was integral to the Holiday Express program’s success,
and who passed away earlier this year.
In each of the past 19 years, the KCS Holiday Express train
stopped in 20 or more communities in five or six states between
Thanksgiving and Christmas. At each stop, visitors could board the
train, meet Santa and his elves and tour the inside of three cars
of the festive six-car train. These events will not take place in
2020 due to the pandemic.
Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., KCS is a transportation
holding company that has railroad investments in the U.S., Mexico
and Panama. Its primary U.S. holding is The Kansas City Southern
Railway Company, serving the central and south central U.S. Its
international holdings include Kansas City Southern de Mexico, S.A.
de C.V., serving northeastern and central Mexico and the port
cities of Lázaro Cárdenas, Tampico and Veracruz, and a 50 percent
interest in Panama Canal Railway Company, providing ocean-to-ocean
freight and passenger service along the Panama Canal. KCS’ North
American rail holdings and strategic alliances with other North
American rail partners are primary components of a unique railway
system, linking the commercial and industrial centers of the U.S.,
Mexico and Canada.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200908005335/en/
C. Doniele Carlson, 816-983-1372, dcarlson@kcsouthern.com
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