In just a week, Tim Hortons' Smile Cookie campaign has raised $8,033 for Red Rood Retreat.
The cheque presentation took place Wednesday morning at the Tim Hortons location on Niagara Stone Road in Virgil.
“We like to make sure the funds stay in our community and Red Roof Retreat does such amazing work with a group of people that are don’t always get all the support they should benefit from,” said Tim Hortons' franchise owner Lori Paterson.
The national campaign kicked off on Sept. 16 and run until Sept. 22.
Each cookie cost $1, and all proceeds, raised from four Tim Hortons locations across Niagara-on-the-Lake, will go toward the charity.
Red Roof’s executive director Steffanie Bjorgan said she is “surprised but not surprised” with the amount of money raised for the organization.
“Our community is great,” Bjorgan told The Lake Report. “That’s a hell lot of money. And a lot of cookies.”
“It’s fantastic. Being for the first time in the campaign, that’s an overwhelming amount of community support in a week,” added Karen Post, Red Roof’s special events co-ordinator.
“It makes such a big difference for us as far as being able to put the money toward the programs and keep doing the work that we do.”