Skagway is sending its greetings with an effort to raise money for the Whitehorse Food Bank.

The White Pass and Yukon Route Railway has donated thousands of hats and DVDs to sell at local grocery stores beginning tomorrow, with all proceeds going to the food bank.

Pat Reese of PR Services is helping organize the two-week fundraiser as the Whitehorse company works closely with White Pass.

With the border closed and the May long weekend approaching, Skagway just wanted to let Whitehorse know it’s feeling a little isolated but still thinking of Yukoners, he said Tuesday.

The hats will sell for $7.50 and the DVDs about the historical railway are selling for $5 – or both for $10.

The hats and DVDs will be sold in Whitehorse at Wykes’ Independent Grocer, Save-on-Foods and the Real Canadian Superstore.

The merchandise will also be sold at The Tatchun Centre in Carmacks, the Dawson General Store and at the Watson Lake Food Bank.

White Pass is 120 years old this year, Reese noted. “That is a pretty good run.”

White Pass usually offers 75 per cent off the regular train fare for Yukoners over the May long weekend.

Jacqui Taylor-Rose, the manager of marketing with White Pass in Skagway, said Tuesday the company felt the drive to raise money for the food bank is a good way to reconnect with Yukoners.

“Normally, we have hundreds and hundreds of Yukoners who come down on the May long weekend to ride the train,” she said.

Taylor-Rose said she always looked at the Victoria Day weekend as the kick-off to the summer season.

But the port city is all but closed down with no train rides nor cruise ships in port, she explained.

Taylor-Rose said she doesn’t know what the summer will bring but right now it’s quiet in town.

“It feels like winter but it’s sunnier,” she said.

In addition to the 20 full-time White Pass staff in Skagway – and one in Carcross – the company normally hires about 160 summer seasonal staff to keep the trains running and the boat docks maintained, she said.

During the tourist season, she added, White Pass offers anywhere from 10 to 14 train rides a day.

Taylor-Rose said the hats and DVDs being sold are usually offered only to passengers who ride the train.

The company has had to put off hiring seasonal staff, she said.

Taylor-Rose said they do have the first cruise ship scheduled to arrive in late July, but it’s dependent on the state of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“A lot of things are going to have to come into play for us to begin operating this summer,” she said.

See related story on Skagway’s, Haines’ isolation.