KCS Holiday Express Announces Challenge Grant to Benefit The Salvation Army

Kansas City Southern (KCS) recently announced the first return to the rails of the KCS Holiday Express train since the start of the pandemic in 2020. In addition, the KCS Holiday Express project continues the tradition of charitable giving to The Salvation Army. To date this year, the project has raised almost $150,000 for this cause. KCS is now issuing a challenge grant to raise even more.

"On this Giving Tuesday, I am proud to announce that KCS will donate $2 for every $1 raised by the Holiday Express project, up to an additional $100,000, between November 29 and December 16, 2022," said KCS president and CEO Patrick J. Ottensmeyer. "Please consider a gift to help The Salvation Army help families in need."

The funds raised will support The Salvation Army in the 20 communities in eight states where the 2022 KCS Holiday Express train will stop. See the full schedule here.

Special thanks to the major sponsors to date, including Bartlett, a Savage Company; Deanne Porter and Patrick Ottensmeyer Family Foundation; Haverty Family Foundation; Husch Blackwell; Kansas City Southern Historical Society; KingdomBuilding Leadership, Inc.; Precision Waste Solutions; RailPros; The Kansas City Southern Charitable Fund; Virginia Vollrath Hertenstein; Watco; and ZA Construction. A complete list of sponsors can be seen here on the KCS website. It is not too late for your contribution to be recognized and for you to be listed among these generous individuals and organizations.

Over 21 years, the KCS Holiday Express project has raised well over $2.6 million. Anyone interested in making a tax-deductible contribution to the 2022 KCS Holiday Express fundraising effort may donate here.

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 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 of people enjoyed for 19 years prior to the start of the pandemic.

In the first 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 return in 2022 after not occurring the previous two years. The KCS Holiday Express is free to the public at all of its stops.

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 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.