Sarnia's St. Joseph's Hospice has over 53,000 reasons to smile.
Proceeds from this year's Tim Hortons Smile Cookie campaign, raised at 11 restaurants in Sarnia and Bright's Grove, generated $53,186 for the organization.
Director of Fund Development Maria Muscedere said the money will allow them to continue offering end of life palliative care and bereavement services in the community.
"We're absolutely impressed and thrilled (with the results). We have a 10 bed residence and we're almost full as of today," said Muscedere. "Since we opened in 2009, we have cared for 2,134 residents, free of charge."
Muscedere said they have to fundraise $1.6 million annually in order to continue to provide free services.
"We're a little bit over half way toward the goal, so we're getting there," she said. "We're hoping our gala on November 5 will take us over the top. The Smile Cookie campaign was not what we expected. We were the recipients in 2018 and we raised $33,000. To think that we raised over $53,000 this year was just amazing. We are so proud of our community. We want to thank our local Tim Hortons restaurant owners, their team members, our hospice volunteers who went out to help, and of course our Tim Hortons guests."
In Forest, money raised benefited the North Lambton Health Centre, and in Petrolia money collected supported the CEE Hospital Foundation.
Last year’s 25th annual Smile Cookie campaign in Sarnia and Bright’s Grove raised $44,509 for St. Clair Child & Youth Services.
Thank you to our Sarnia Lambton Community!! $53,186 was raised for St. Joseph's Hospice from Smile Cookie Sales and Donations!! pic.twitter.com/u0FSAer3o9
— St. Joseph's Hospice (@sjhospicesarnia) October 26, 2022