Tim Hortons Smile Cookie campaign officially kicked off on Monday, April 28, and will run until Sunday, May 4, 2025.
In Brantford, 100 per cent of the proceeds from the sale of Smile Cookies and Smile Cookie campaign merchandise will be divided between Lansdowne Children’s Centre and Brant Food For Thought, two organizations dedicated to helping local children reach their full potential.
Over the past three years, Tim Hortons Smile Cookie campaigns have contributed over $400,000 to community programs for children in Brantford.
“This is our seventh year participating as a charity recipient of Smile Cookie week, and this is because the Tim Hortons owners in the area select the charities that they want to support, and so we’re excited to be partnering again with Lansdowne Children’s Centre Foundation to support the campaign,” said Gisèle Budgell, Program Director for Brant Food for Thought. “This has been a game changer for Brant Food for Thought, and it’s been a tremendous investment in universal student nutrition programs where the kids can get access to the most nutritious food so that they can learn during the school day. We’re just really happy to be here, this is an exciting week.”
She continued to say that the proceeds from the campaign will go on to help the organization to support and facilitate breakfast and snack programs to over 12,000 students in Brantford and the County of Brant.
“The greater percentage of the funds that are raised here will directly support the purchase of nutritious foods like whole fruits and vegetables, whole grain products, high-quality protein items like cheese and yogurt and eggs, those kinds of things, to go directly to the school. The other portion of that, supports the local coordination and delivery of nutrition programs,” said Budgell. “We make sure that our programs are run according to safe food handling requirements, that they’re run efficiently and we make sure that the programs are not going to be running out of money. We’ve been able to purchase equipment for our programs with these funds because we know that programs are serving large volumes of perishable food, and so we need to have adequate refrigeration and proper food storage, so all of these funds go into supporting the programs.”
She also added that it was important to note that these nutrition programs are not poverty or emergency driven, but rather, are designed to level the playing field so that all students, regardless of their socio-economic background, have equitable access to nutritious foods.
Joshua Paxton, Lansdowne’s Communications Supervisor, said that the campaign benefits the organization by supporting various programs.
“Proceeds from the Smile Cookie campaign will go towards some of those underfunded or unfunded programs like Every Kid Counts and Family Engagement Services, which offer those non-clinical services to families, children and youth, to practice their skills, to pursue their development and to really engage in our community,” he said. “Our recreation programs, for instance, are not part of a government ministry, they are supplemental to those clinical services. And so, that’s where your community engagement and your financial support from the Smile Cookies goes, to providing things like support workers so that children with additional needs can participate in community-based programs; things like summer camps, March Break programs, and Scouts. Those types of things where they just need that extra support to be able to engage with their peers and enjoy all that our community has to offer.”
Paxton added that the campaign also helps make the community more aware about the two organizations and what they’re trying to accomplish.
“In addition to the financial support that Smile Cookie provides to our organizations annually, we really appreciate the amplification of knowing in this community, the opportunity to connect people, and raise awareness of what Lansdowne Children’s Centre and Brant Food for Thought brings to this community. This is such a great platform that we’re so grateful to have for one week, where people are putting their attention on Tim Hortons’ Smile Cookies, and in doing so, finding out about these two organizations.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
