In 1989, the Choo Choo Barn started Canned Food Fridays, where admission to see the 1700 square foot train display was a can of food or a cash donation. The first couple of years, we were only open the Friday evenings in December but quickly expanded to a ten hour day. We now are open from 9 AM to 8 PM, spreading the day out a little more with the hope that more people can see our display.
We just completed our 26th year of Canned Food Fridays, a program that has become a very popular tradition for many local families. This canned food drive helps fill local food banks with much needed food during the holiday season. This year's food drive saw 3,437 visitors donate 5,185 cans or 5,529 pounds of food, over the span of three Fridays.
In 26 years of Canned Food Fridays, 51,137 people visited the Choo Choo Barn, donating 59,591 non-perishable food items or 32.25 tons of food as admission. This food has helped feed the hungry in Lancaster and ChesterCounties in Southeast Pennsylvania.
This is the Choo Choo Barn’s way of giving back to the local community. We are very fortunate to be own a business that is able to have a program such as Canned Food Fridays.
