Cue the smiles for better patient care in Kawartha Lakes.
The thrill is genuine for the Ross Memorial Hospital (RMH) Foundation, having learned it’s the recipient of more than $21,000 to help fund several significant investments underway at RMH in Lindsay.
Nick and Meaghan Chapman, owners of five Tim Hortons restaurants in Lindsay, chose the RMH Foundation as a partner charity during the restaurant chain’s spring “Smile Cookie” campaign that ran from April 28 to May 4.
“We are thrilled to see such a positive response to the Smile Cookie campaign, not only for the hospital but for all of the community causes that are supported by the Tim Hortons restaurants all over Canada,” RMH Foundation communications specialist Kim Coulter told kawarthaNOW.
When asked what the money will specifically support, Coulter said, “here at the Ross, funds are going toward the hospital’s highest priority projects.”
The priority projects include enhancements to the emergency department and intensive care unit (ICU) in response to rapid population growth, ensuring access to leading-edge diagnostic technology and state-of-the-art bedside equipment enabling life-saving care, and transforming the patient experience and connecting real-time test results and patient information.
When customers bought Smile Cookies during the campaign, Coulter noted, they were supporting those critical hospital projects.
While the Tim Hortons’ Smile Cookie campaign lasted only one week, the impact of its fundraising support touches lives long into the future, the RMH Foundation noted in a media release, adding that the foundation is grateful to the Chapmans for their support.
On Tuesday (May 20), RMH Foundation board chair Mona Malcolm Sharman stopped by a Lindsay Tim Hortons location to celebrate the success of the Smile Cookie campaign with the Chapmans and operations manager and general manager Mark and Nancy Hutchinson, who presented the foundation with a cheque for $21,066.55.
“To everyone who made a point of visiting one of Nick and Meaghan’s restaurants and buying a Smile Cookie knowing it’s for a good cause, thank you,” said Malcolm Sharman in a statement.
“You might wonder how much impact a cookie can make, but together as a community we can make big things happen for our local hospital. With every gesture of generosity, you make a difference.”
The Chapmans’ Tim Hortons restaurants include three locations on Kent Street West, one at the corner of County Road 36 and Mount Hope Street, and one on Highway 35 south of Highway 7.
“We are happy to be in a position to help the Ross, not just because it’s important to our family when we need care, but because it’s important to everybody,” said Nick Chapman.
Other Lindsay-area Tim Hortons restaurants supported Kawartha Lakes Food Source and the Humane Society of Kawartha Lakes.
Since 1996, the annual Tim Hortons Smile Cookie campaign has raised a total of more than $130 million for charities and community groups selected every year by restaurant owners. Last year, the campaign raised $19.8 million for more than 600 charities, hospitals, and community groups across Canada.
