I watched the special on CSX’s Santa Train that aired on Great American Country over the weekend and it was amazing. If you haven’t seen it yet, I suggest you do.

I am extremely proud to say that Kids Wish Network was a part of this wonderful endeavor to help the children and families in the Appalachian Mountains. I am especially proud of Ashley, who was lucky enough to have been the KWN representative on the Santa Train. She did an amazing job helping out and putting a very happy face to the KWN name; in fact, everyone involved with the Santa Train did an awesome job.

There is nothing quite like that special feeling you get when you know that something you’ve done has gone towards helping children; with the Santa Train, over 5,000 children were given something to smile about for the holiday season when they might have had nothing. We at Kids Wish Network are very proud to have been a part of this event.

Shelley Breiner
Executive Director

Well, the big day is very close now and I am super excited!! It is the 67th year of the CSX Santa Train and I get to go on it! How lucky am I??? This train ride has become a very memorable tradition for the many families living in the Appalachian Mountains. It’s an early Christmas for them or, in a lot of cases, their ONLY Christmas. The train runs from Kentucky down through West Virginia and into Tennessee. It is packed with 15 tons of goodies, toys and gifts. Kids Wish Network packed and sent 11 pallets of toys, games, plush etc. to CSX and we are so happy to be involved in such a caring cause and wonderful project. We get to reach out to a lot of children and that is, after all, what we do best!!!

The actual train ride will be on Saturday, but my fun starts tomorrow with a 7a.m. flight from Tampa to Tennessee. There, I will meet up with the CSX people and from then on it’s a pretty hectic schedule. I’ve been told we will be sorting toys and packing 5,000 goodie bags on Wednesday night in preparation for the train ride. This is a huge volunteer event and it will be held outside the Kingsport Area Chamber of Commerce from 5-9 p.m.

I have never been to this part of the country before, which makes it even more fun. In fact, I’m actually looking forward to some nice cold weather and I mean real cold weather, my Florida friends. Not 60º. LOL

I’ll keep you posted so stay tuned…

Ashley
Distribution Department