The Holiday Smile Cookie Campaign was a success once again in North Bay.
The Tim Hortons North Bay location's campaign took place from November 18 to 25.
On Thursday, Tim Hortons officials unveiled their cheque worth $37,569.88 which is going to the North Bay Food Bank and the Tim Hortons Foundation Camps.
Brandon Moffat owns Tim Hortons locations in North Bay at Cassells, Trout Lake Road, Northgate Shopping Centre, and Algonquin.
"It is huge. It is basically part of the fabric of the brand," said Moffat about the Smile Cookie campaign.
"We are moving into a second year with the Food Bank but obviously the Smile Cookie Campaign is so huge that we moved from one to two annually. But Tim Hortons and community involvement, those two go hand in hand. I think that if you look back all the way back to our Timbits sports programs to national campaigns to things just the franchisees do among themselves locally it is really part and parcel with the brand."
Debbie Marson, executive director with the North Bay Food Bank, says with demand increasing, the big smiley cheque is appreciated.
"It's a great campaign and we are so privileged to be a part of it and be the chosen charity," she said.
"We go out and get preorders, we canvas our community, and we appreciate the support of the people who do the preorders of the customers coming into the store to purchase because that big number does help us out."
Marson says the Food Bank demand increase in 2024 is significant.
"The numbers are definitely up, we are 620 households over where we were last year at this time," admitted Marson.
"That's a big number and we are seeing on average 30 households get served every night. So we need that volume of food, that volume of donations to come in and sustain us, day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month."
