There were smiles and cheers on Monday, as a cheque was presented showcasing the funds raised through the Tim Hortons Smile Cookie Campaign in Lethbridge.
The treats were sold at Tim Hortons locations across the country and community Apr. 27-May 3.
Locally, a total of $75,943.88 was raised through the sale of Smile Cookies.
That money will benefit Green Shirt Day, the Canadian Transplant Association, and the Logan Boulet Endowment Fund through the Community Foundation of Lethbridge & Southwestern Alberta.
Logan Boulet’s mother, Bernie, said this initiative is one of the many ways to honour her late son’s legacy. Logan was one of the victims of the 2018 Humboldt Broncos bus crash.
“He very much believed in community and giving back to the community, so this is a way that he can continue to give back and that we can support all kinds of things that were important to Logan, both here in our community and around southern Alberta and into Humboldt,” Bernie said, following Monday’s cheque presentation.
“Logan understood the concept of time – to give time and to give energy, to give whatever you can to whatever the purpose is, the reason is – helping at a tournament … or whatever it was, Logan would help out, no questions asked,” added Logan’s father Toby.
“We know that lots of groups in southern Alberta need a little help,” he said, explaining that the Endowment Fund, administered through the Community Foundation, has allowed donations to be made to various groups in the region that need a hand.
Toby said some of the recipients of funding have included the Alberta Pediatric Heart Transplant Camp near Sundre, AdaptABLE Outdoors in Pincher Creek and KidSport Lethbridge and Taber, as well as the Chinook Regional Hospital Foundation, among others.
“The City of Lethbridge, the community of southern Alberta – they support everything Logan and everything that we try to do, which is amazing, which is fun, and it makes it easy to raise money, because we raise money to give it away,” he remarked.
Although known as a successful hockey player, Bernie said her son also wanted to be known as “more than just a hockey player”. She noted that Logan was a talented guitar player and was very artistic; something reflected in a donation to the local arts community.
“This year, we’re actually able to give some money to New West Theatre and to their programs to allow some youth to be able to take part in their camps that they have in the summer,” Bernie explained.
Toby said funds have also helped with the Dennis Connolly Amphitheatre Project at the University of Lethbridge.
“The money raised stays in the community as much as possible,” he said. Toby added his family received so much help in their time of need, and he believes in the concept of ‘paying it forward’.
Local restaurant owner Azhar Buksh said Toby and Bernie “have been fantastic to work with”. He said the Smile Cookie Campaign relies on community support, and it was special to see so many people support the program, as well as volunteer their time to help out.
“It’s a huge team effort,” Buksh remarked.
“We haven’t really seen numbers like this before [and] we had so many volunteers come in from different organizations across the city,” he added.
“That’s where it really makes a difference, when you have the [whole] community coming together and really engaging in a campaign like this. That’s when you see these types of positive stories.”
