The CP Holiday Train will be in Okotoks Sunday, helping fill the shelves at the Okotoks Food Bank.

Since its inaugural journey in 1999, the CP Holiday train has raised more than $13 million dollars and collected four million pounds of food for communities along its routes throughout North America, according to CP Rail.

Sheila Hughes, Okotoks Food Bank executive director, says she's hoping visitors to the CP holiday train event will consider bringing non-perishable food donations, helping keep food bank shelves stocked into the spring and summer months.

They're hoping for donations of healthy food, in keeping with CP's commitment to heart health and the food bank's healthy-eating initiatives.

"Examples of that would be whole grain cereals, rice and pasta, low-sodium soups, stews and beans," Hughes says. "And then, of course, we always have our fresh food fund. We do like to buy perishable foods to make sure that our hampers are very well-rounded. So, if anybody wants to bring a monetary donation, that will go a long way in helping us buy fresh food for our hampers."

Hughes says the food bank will be set up at a table accepting donations and loading them into a GM Mechanical trailer from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

She points out she's hoping the community will come out to welcome the train and enjoy the day's events. Following the CP Holiday Train's visit to town and a performance by Alan Doyle and the Beautiful Band, local band Haggis will perform and then visitors can head to the Rec Centre to enjoy a Skate with Santa party, which begins at 2:15 p.m.

"We're just hoping Okotoks comes out and really has a great time, enjoys Alan Doyle and the Beautiful Band who are coming out as well as the other performers, Haggis and the buskers, that are going to be there," Hughes says. "We just hope it's going to be a really fun event for the whole community and that people think of us with a donation at that time and think of the other people who are in need in our community."

The CP Holiday Train will be stopped on the tracks along Daggett Street between Northridge Drive and Veteran's Way on Sunday, December 10 from 12 noon to 12:30 p.m.

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