From September 19–25, the Niverville location of Tim Hortons ran their annual Smile Cookie campaign to raise funds for the local chapter of Communities in Bloom. CIB plans to use the funds to finish the memory garden in the courtyard of the Heritage Life Personal Care Home, which will feature a putting green, butterfly garden, and other seniors’ healthy living activities.
The Smile Cookie campaign was a great opportunity to raise awareness for the project and promote intergenerational connectedness in the town since the cookies appeal to every demographic, especially children.
“This campaign is bridging the gap between kids and seniors. The kids love the cookies; the seniors will love the garden,” says Shirley Hoult, representative Communities in Bloom. “The garden will provide a social, restful, and active filled space and improve the quality of life for our seniors.”
The Tim Hortons Smile Cookie program sells specially decorated cookies for $1 per cookie and contributes 100 percent of proceeds toward a community group of their choice.
For the past two years, Tim Hortons in Niverville raised funds for Growing Minds.
“We’ve participated every year since we opened in Niverville,” says Nazli Sharma, from Hospitality Services at Tim Hortons. “We try to choose projects that can really benefit many in the community and Growing Minds was improving their playground facility and we know how precious daycare needs are. They did really well with their campaign at that time.”
Sharma says that the cookie campaign requires a lot of work from Tim Hortons staff, as well as a volunteer group made up of local seniors. Cookies are baked and decorated each night in order to supply the community with fresh cookies for the next day. It is often a job that continues late into the night.
“We are always baking late at night and we are mindful of freshness so we cannot possibly bake ahead of time,” says Sharma. “It’s a couple of managers, myself as well, who are doing it, as well as many, many volunteers. These are your town representative seniors and if you want something done, ask a busy senior. You’ll never be let down. They are amazing, amazing volunteers.”
Despite the work involved, Sharma says Tim Hortons is always happy to participate, especially because of how they’ve gotten to know the community values in Niverville.
When the CIB approached Tim Hortons about the memory garden, Sharma visited the gardens and was impressed with what the community group was building. She was struck by how the Heritage Centre’s services cater to all stages of life.
“I saw the way the Heritage Centre is shaped like a horseshoe, and you can walk through the building and see the stages of life, from the young minds to the seniors,” she says. “It is a fantastic initiative and speaks of how this town is caring for one another.”
Sharma says this kind of taking care of one another is infectious.
“We are so grateful for the way Niverville and the surrounding communities have opened their arms to us,” adds Sharma. “This restaurant has exceeded everyone’s expectations and we have hired quite a few Nivervillians and immigrants as well. We have a lovely mix of youth and older persons on our staff as well. Now people are saying, ‘We need a store twice the size.’ You can tell by the line-up!”