20,000 Grande Prairie students, first responders, and business owners can expect an extra smile over the next couple of days. Grande Prairie business owner Sean Sargent will once again deliver Tim Hortons Smile Cookies to schools, hospitals, and public sector programs around the city using his A-Team van.
The cookies are part of the annual Tim Hortons Smile Cookie campaign, which officially kicks off on September 13th, when $1 cookies will be sold across the city, with proceeds helping out the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital Foundation with a focus on pediatric care.
Sargent says with things a little more back to normal, he is honoured to be able to donate the first $20,000 of the local campaign, and the effect it has on the community is simply the icing on the cookie. He adds, however, the 2020 edition of the campaign opened his eyes to just how much of an impact delivering a smile can be.
“You feel good doing it… when I deliver these, I feel good doing that, and they feel good receiving them!” he says.
“Last year it was really appreciated more than usual, we still did it, although it was very modified, and the teachers and kids, it meant that much more to them, because I think they expected us not to be able to do it,” he adds.
He adds Grande Prairie is always a very giving community, this usually seems to kick start it, and if it does that, mission accomplished.
In 2020, approximately $65,000 was raised for the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital Foundation, and Major Gifts Officer Dawn Miller says with construction on the facility inching ever closer to the finish line, the money goes a long way. She says they are humbled to be selected as the local charity in 2021.
“We’re so excited to get in there and be able to show everybody what beautiful we have… we are extremely fortunate to have this in our region, and it’ll make a huge difference,” she says. “We couldn’t really do what we do without these sorts of partnerships.”