Bradford Tim Hortons owner, Perry Thornton, is hoping to give the Helping Hand Food Bank plenty of reasons to smile this holiday season.
For the first time, Tim Hortons is selling holiday-themed Smile Cookies from Nov. 13 to 19, and Thornton’s locations will be splitting the proceeds 50-50 and donating them to both the food bank and Tim Hortons Foundation Camps.
"You read so many stories right now in the paper about food banks and people in need, so we just thought it was a great idea for this year, to support the local food bank,” Thornton said.
To kick off the sale, Carolyn Khan, executive director at the food bank, Bill Jermyn, vice-chair of the food bank, and Mayor James Leduc visited the location at 440 Holland St. W. to try their hands at decorating some cookies and see who could make the best smiles.
While Jermyn proved to be the fastest of the bunch, the additional support for the food bank meant Khan had the biggest smile.
"We’re very excited about being the recipients of the smile campaign funds this year,” she said. “It definitely gave me a smile.”
The campaign comes at an important time for the food bank, which just experienced record-breaking usage numbers as it’s currently supporting about 550 families, or more than 1,500 people.
While Khan explained that the food bank always sees an increase in the fall and leading into the holiday season, this year’s numbers are up more than usual.
“It’s a huge spike, and if you look at the stats, from 2020-2023 it’s a 300-per-cent increase in clientele,” she said, noting demand had been expected to wain post pandemic, not surge.
As a result, Khan is also seeing a broader group of residents using the food bank, as they struggle to pay their mortgages, make car payments and still put food on the table.
“It’s across the board. It’s Ontario, it’s Canada, it’s everywhere,” she said. “It’s an epidemic.”
On the positive side, Khan said local retailers have partnered with the food bank to improve food recovery, local farmers continue to supply produce and local volunteers maintain their best efforts to help ensure everyone is served.
Another silver lining is that with no college or university in town, Bradford’s food bank has been able to avoid the complications and demands of serving international students, which have made headlines in places like Brampton.
Thornton is confident the campaign will be successful in raising funds, and has already seen a positive response from customers.
“People are coming in buying a dozen at a time,” he said.
While the chocolate chunk Smile Cookies offered in the spring have raised more than $111 million in the 25 years they have been available, the holiday variant offers a new twist with white chocolate chip sugar cookies infused with red and green sprinkles.
The cookies still sport that familiar smile, but this time it’s made from white icing.
The cookies can be purchased for $1.50 each plus tax, and are available at the following Bradford locations: 118 Holland St. E., 185 Bridge St. and 440 Holland St. W.
For more information about the food bank and how it has been supporting the community since 1991, visit bradfordfoodbank.ca.
