WOW what an amazing night!!
After a 2 year break the CP Holiday Train was back in the village of Merrickville on Monday November 28th in all its glory. And WOW doesn’t even begin to describe the energy of the night. There were thousands in attendance, the crowd started arriving around 3pm and continued coming long after the entertainment at begun.
Rideau Community Health Services Food Cupboard – Merrickville site, House of Lazarus in Mountain and South Grenville Food Bank supporting Prescott, Spencerville and Cardinal are in awe of the generosity of everyone who attended the 2022 CP Holiday Train event, this year we collected 1378.5 pounds of food and $4410.70 in cash donations plus the $4000 cheque that CP generously donates to us. This support will go along way to helping individuals and families in the coming months.
The committee would like to thank everyone who participated in the CP Holiday train with us this year.
Thank you to all the planning committee members who assist in organizing, promoting and delivering this event including Mayor Michael Cameron and the Public Works Department Village of Merrickville Wolford, Merrickville Fire Department and their members for assisting with EMS services on site, collecting food and helping with traffic control, representatives from the area food banks, Merrickville Lions Club and Grenville OPP.
Thank you to Rideau Community Health Services Board member Terry Gilhen, Lions volunteers and community volunteers for all their dedication the night of the train’s arrival. We could not have made this a success without your assistance with the signs, visitor information, parking, collecting donations, providing hot beverages for the attendees, problem solving and being willing to help at any time.
Thank you to all our supporters this year including Albert’s Liquid Waste for donating 2 port-a-potties, Yellow Canoe for supplying the hundreds of cups of hot chocolate, McDonalds Kemptville for supplying coffee and cups, and Wilson Bassill for the continued use of his property and ensuring we had access to a safe venue. RCHS and the planning committee would like to say a special thank you to the Grenville OPP for their tremendous efforts before, during, and after the trains’ arrival this year in ensuring everyone was kept safe. Safety is always our utmost concern and having the OPP and Auxiliary Officers there to keep the traffic controlled and pedestrians’ safe made the event run smoothly and gave us all peace of mind.
If you were not able to join us on Monday November 28th for the Holiday Train and would still like to donate the area food banks are always in need of cereal, peanut butter, canned tuna in water, canned vegetables and canned diced tomatoes. Feel free to drop them off donations at any of the area food banks.