Pictured above (L to R): Glenn Gaudet, Board President, Brant Food For Thought; Gisèle Budgell, Program Director, Brant Food For Thought; Nancy Waldschmidt, Community Development Coordinator, Brant Food For Thought; Richard Leadbetter, Board Vice-President, Brant Food For Thought; Tim Hortons owners–Keri Korfmann, Ken Molloy, Mark Ferguson and Taylor Hogarth (Tim Hortons owners unable to attend: Bernie Korfmann, Orville Bernard, Frank and Gina Baviera, Andrew and Grace Grigg); Candace Kingyens, Senior Development Officer, Lansdowne Children’s Centre Foundation; Lansdowne Foundation Board members–Rita Stratford, Cam Weir and Brantford Police Chief Rob Davis.
BRANTFORD, June 15, 2023 – Tim Hortons restaurant owners and millions of generous Tim Hortons guests helped to break a new Smile Cookie record by raising $19.7 million for local charities and community groups across the country.
This year in Brantford, local Tim Hortons® restaurant owners, their staff teams and guests helped raise $152,974.30, with 100% of proceeds from sales of Smile Cookies, donated to support Brant Food For Thought and Lansdowne Children’s Centre Foundation. “This is our 5th Smile Cookie campaign with the Brantford Tim Hortons owners and definitely the best one yet,” says Gisèle Budgell, Brant Food For Thought Program Director. The Brantford Smile Cookie campaign has grown substantially over the years, supporting a multitude of worthy charities, with this year showing a 32% increase over last year. We are so grateful for everyone’s support.”
“This additional support couldn’t have come at a better time,” continues Budgell. “Since March of last year, Brant Food For Thought has experienced a 35% increase in demand for local student nutrition programs, serving close to 11,000 students on a weekly basis. This funding is critical to subsidizing the rising cost of healthy food, providing refrigeration and equipment for safe food storage, and most importantly, for ensuring that all children and youth have access to nutritious meals and snacks during the school day to help maximize their learning success. Thank you to everyone in this community who contributed in any way.”
The Lansdowne Children’s Centre Foundation raises funds to help support over 3,000 children, youth, and their families annually, who are dealing with communication, developmental and physical special needs. “We would not be able to continue the important work of the Centre without this incredible community support,” says Candace Kingyens, Senior Development Officer for the Foundation.
The Lansdowne Children’s Centre is currently pursuing the opportunity to build a new home in Brantford, to help address urgent capacity concerns and waiting times, and hopes to provide the community and region with a new children’s treatment centre in the future. “It is our dream to be able to provide this new building to the children and youth with special needs in our community. The Smile Cookie campaign, and everyone involved, have helped us get one step closer to achieving this.”
“We’re so proud and humbled that Tims guests have once again shown incredible support for our Smile Cookie campaign and important charities and community groups where they live, by helping us raise a record-breaking $19.7 million,” says Axel Schwan, President of Tim Hortons.
“To achieve such an amazing result means baking and hand-decorating millions upon millions of Smile Cookies over the course of just a week. My heartfelt thanks goes out to everyone who made this happen, including all of our passionate restaurant owners, team members and volunteers who helped us dot eyes and create smiles.”
Smile Cookie Campaign Facts
- 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