Caledon  residents raise over $37,000 for Meals on Wheels through Smile Cookie initiative

By Zachary Roman

A whole lot of smile cookies were eaten in Caledon this year. 

To be precise, 37,138 of them went down the hatch. That means Caledon residents raised $37,138 for Caledon Meals on Wheels, which was the charity chosen to benefit from Tim Hortons restaurants' annual Smile Cookie initiative.

Each year, Tim Hortons restaurants sell smile cookies for a dollar, with 100 per cent of the proceeds from them going to charities in the communities the restaurants are located in. Across Canada this year, a record number of smile cookies were sold, and over $15 million was raised for over 600 different charities in Canada. 

In Caledon, Tim Hortons owners Brad and Liz Stafford, Jay MacDonald, and Leonard and Cindy Scianitti participated in the charitable initiative, selling Smile Cookies at their restaurants. Over the eight years the Smile Cookie initiative has run in Caledon, over $177,000 has been raised from the over 177,000 smile cookies bought by Caledon residents.

Caledon Meals on Wheels (CMOW) provides many services to Caledon seniors and people with disabilities, such as the delivery of nutritious hot or frozen meals, friendly visits, and health and wellness programs. All of these services serve to help people continue to live independently in their homes. CMOW's Executive Director Christine Sevigny said, on behalf of the organization, that she's truly thankful for the support CMOW has received. 

“We are so grateful for the support of our local Tim Hortons restaurant owners, their staff and our community for their efforts year after year,” said Sevigny. “They see the value in what we do and the difference that each cookie purchase makes.”

Tim Hortons restaurants' smile cookie campaign first began in 1996 to raise funds for the Hamilton Children's Hospital. Since then, it's expanded and has raised over $75 million for charities selected by restaurant owners, $12.2 million of which was raised in 2021.