KCS wraps up Holiday Express fundraiser for Salvation Army

Kansas City Southern announced today that its KCS Holiday Express program raised over $277,000 to benefit The Salvation Army in 20 communities on the Class I's U.S. rail network.

Over the past 20 years, the charitable component of the KCS Holiday Express project has raised over $2.3 million, which was donated to The Salvation Army at each scheduled train stop to help provide warm clothing and other necessities for children in need in local communities. This year's Holiday Express Train stops were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the fundraiser continued.

"The Salvation Army tells us that the need has always been there, and this year, it's greater than ever," said KCS President and Chief Executive Officer Patrick Ottensmeyer in a press release. "The KCS Holiday Express project, combined with gifts earlier this year to United Way for COVID relief, gifts to the American Red Cross for hurricane relief, and donations of medical equipment in Mexico, bring KCS' charitable giving for 2020 to well over $1 million for these efforts combined."

The communities to benefit from this year's Holiday Express project include Kansas City, Joplin and Mexico, Missouri; Beaumont, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Houston, Laredo and Port Arthur, Texas; Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Shrevenport and Westlake, Louisiana; Gulfport, Jackson and Vicksburg, Mississippi; Decatur, Arkansas; East St. Louis, Illinois; Pittsburg, Kansas; and Heavener, Oklahoma.