For Gayle Sears, the recent Holiday Smile Campaign at Tim Hortons went beyond raising much-needed funds for Pelham Cares.
“It was great, we had a lot of fun,” the organization’s executive director said. “It was great for the volunteers and board members participated, the staff who participated. It was a great way for us to get out into the community.”
This year’s Holiday Smile Cookie campaign raised $9,666 locally, to be split evenly between Pelham Cares and the Tim Hortons Foundation Camps. That means Pelham Cares will receive $4,833, money that will help Pelham Cares continue to provide services to the community. The funds came from the sale of 6,444 – or 537 dozen – of the iced sugar cookies that sold for $1.50 apiece.
Services provided by Pelham Cares include a food bank, a subsidy for youth to take part in sports and other activities such as music lessons, transportation for those in need of assistance to attend medical appointments, emergency services when there is a crisis and referrals to other support systems as needed. Seasonal help is also available through programs for back to school, winter coats, and Christmas.
Demand has continued to rise. This year, 101 household registered for the agency’s Christmas program, including 169 children.
“That’s a huge increase,” Sears said.
The funds come at a tough time for the agency as the strike at Canada Post has meant donors who send cheques by mail have not been able to do so but the community has continued to show strong support.
“People have been very good about dropping by or trying their best to drop by,” she said. “In a smaller community, you can do that more.”
Postal workers, who have been on strike since Nov. 15, could be back on the job as early as next week after Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon referred the dispute to the Canada Industrial Relations Board and send the more than 55,000 striking employees back to work under the current collective agreement until May 22, 2025.
Stephanie McWilliams, who owns the Fonthill Timmies locations along with her husband, Bill, said when it came time to choosing an organization to raise funds for, Pelham Cares sprung to mind.
“We’re grateful that we have Pelham Cares here, and we can support them,” McWilliams said. “I think it's good fit at Christmas time, especially because they're involved with the food drive and doing the hampers next week.”
This was the second year for the Holiday Smile Cookie program, designed by Hortons as a way to give back to the community.
But McWilliams said it’s the volunteers who come out to help decorate the cookies that make the campaign a success. Staff, she said, are grateful for all the work the volunteers do.
“We can’t do it without the volunteers,” she said. “You have to have a partnership with your charity. If you don't have that partnership, then we can't raise the money like we’d like to because they're instrumental.”
While the money raised for the holiday campaign didn't reach the level of the spring campaign – in Pelham the spring cookie sales raised in the neighbourhood of $25,000 for Wellspring Niagara – McWilliams said it’s simply a matter of time.
“It’ll grow over the years,” she said.
