The Canadian Pacific Kansas City Holiday Train has rolled through Belleville on its trip across Canada and the United States.
The train arrived in Belleville to a large crowd waiting along the tracks near the Belleville General Hospital.
The annual trip is made to support local food banks, raising money and collecting food donations that help local communities right where the donations are made. The train makes its own donation to a local food bank as well at every stop.
In Belleville, the train came in support of Gleaners Food Bank with a donation of $7000. Gleaners was accepting food donations onsite.
Gleaners Food Bank collected donations at CPKC Holiday train’s stop. Cash and non-perishable food items were accepted. Photo: Alan-Michael Steele
Jodie Jenkins, Community Engagement Specialist for Gleaners, said that the increase in demand locally for food banks is shocking.
“There’s no way to sugar coat it. More and more people are using the food bank. We’re not only seeing that here in Belleville, but across the country as well,” said Jenkins. “We’re looking at almost 20 per cent, one-fifth of our population here in Belleville using the food bank.”
Santa Claus visits Belleville to see the CPKC Holiday Train make its stop. (From left to right Councillor Garnet Thompson, Mayor Neil Ellis, Santa Claus, Jodie Jenkins from Gleaners Food Bank with his children, and Mrs. Claus.) Photo: Alan-Michael Steele
Gleaners is constantly accepting donations. While they will accept any non-perishable food items or cash, Jenkins says the items they need most are pasta, peanut butter, and pasta sauce. They are also accepting clothing, dog or cat food, and toiletries.
Mayor Neil Ellis and Jodie Jenkins from Gleaners are presented with the big cheque for $7000 by CPKC. Photo: Alan-Michael Steele
The Holiday Train also made stops in Trenton, where it donated $5000 to the Trenton Care and Share Food Bank, along with a stop in Brighton to give $5,000 to the Fare Share Food Bank.
Photos from the Trenton stop can be seen below.
