NORTH BATTLEFORD – This year in the Battlefords and Meadow Lake, Tim Hortons restaurant owners Glenn Isaac, Marion Michnik, Kim Lefevre and guests helped raise $21,771.65 to support the Living Sky Innovation Fund Communication Board Project through the franchise’s Smile Cookie campaign.
They donated 100 per cent of proceeds from sales of Smile Cookies between April 29 and May 5.
The donation from the Smile Cookie campaign will be used to purchase augmentative and alternative communication boards (or AAC Boards) for playgrounds across the division to ensure all students have a voice.
“Many students have difficulty verbally communicating for a variety of reasons, so they need other ways to talk. Communication is a human right, and these boards provide a way to communicate along with also promoting play and inclusion for everyone,” explained Shari Dueck, a speech and language pathologist with Living Sky School Division.
The Living Sky Innovation Fund, in partnership with the Living Sky School Division speech and language department, plans to have at least six boards installed before the start of the next school year.
Christeena Fisher, Living Sky Innovation Fund Coordinator, said this about the campaign, “We are so incredibly grateful to our local Tim Hortons owners for partnering with us to support the Living Sky Innovation Fund, and more specifically the Communication Board Project. This fundraiser definitely exceeded our initial thoughts of what we could accomplish! On top of the generous financial support, we are still a new fund in the community and being able to create awareness around what the fund is and introduce the initiatives we hope to support with it is a huge opportunity.” She added “Thank you again to our local Tim Hortons locations, to our amazing speech and language team, to all the volunteers that helped during the week, and for the overwhelming generosity shown by all.”
Smile Cookie Campaign Facts
Tim Hortons restaurant owners and millions of generous Tim Hortons guests raised $18.8 million for local charities and community groups across the country through the annual Smile Cookie campaign.
• The first-ever Smile Cookie campaign in 1996 raised funds to support Hamilton Children's Hospital. Since then, the annual charitable campaign has raised a total of more than $111 million for charities and organizations that are selected every year by Tim Hortons restaurant owners.
• Nationally, Tim Hortons restaurant owners support over 600 local charities and community groups through the Smile Cookie campaign
