Thousands of smiles were brought to the faces Altona residents on Wednesday evening, thanks to a simple cookie.
About 50 volunteers set out in blustery conditions to deliver a free Tim Horton's Holiday Smile Cookie to each resident in town, courtesy The Community Exhange (TCE) and a raft of sponsors.
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Creating community connections
The goal, explained Paul Peters, TCE Executive Director, was to bring people together and acknowledge that we are all one community.
"I think in a time when, sometimes, we find our differences a lot easier than our similarities, it felt really special to have an evening where, I mean, it was as juvenile as one could imagine. It was a cookie and a smile. But for everyone delivering and even for those receiving, I think it did exactly what we wanted it to. It brought people together; it made small connections."
While he couldn't personally knock on each door in town, Peters says based on the feedback from volunteers who returned to TCE after their deliveries, the responses from people were mostly positive.
"Everybody coming to their doors, it was smiles of I think joy. There were definitely people who were kind of surprised and said, 'OK, well, what are you asking for in return?' or 'Why are you doing this?' or 'How much can I pay for this?' and people could just simply respond, 'It's just a nice gesture. We just want to give you a free cookie.' In the end, most if not all people responded well and took the cookie and I hope that it at least put a smile on for the evening."
Additionally, Peters feels the blitz generated some neat stories of connection.
"People running into former students of theirs, or people they didn't know where they lived, or a newcomer they might have met somewhere and now they're meeting them with a cookie."
"It was amazing...unreal."
In the end, over 4,000 Holiday Smile Cookies were delivered across town by 50 volunteers, decorated by about another 20 volunteers earlier that day.
In total, Peters estimates the entire effort required the support of 100 people, including a handful of businesses and private sponsors that covered the cost of the cookies.
"It started as a small idea with a group of people at the TCE building," said Peters. "The list of people, places that made this possible...I'd probably have to send you a list in order to get it all right [...] it was amazing. Unreal."
Peters added, even the Manager of Altona's Tim Horton's franchise, Raj, stayed up until 4 a.m. Wednesday morning to bake the cookies with another staff member. And, when owner, Rupesh Patel, heard what TCE was trying to pull off, he graciously donated litres of hot chocolate for volunteers to enjoy with each other and warm up with following their deliveries.
A lasting effect
While he admitted to feeling relieved the morning after the blitz, Peters hopes the gesture has a lasting impact, but said only time will tell.
"The simplest answer from our end would be, an ongoing continued reminder that we're all neighbors. And if there are small ways like this where we can be face-to-face, more often than not, it's going to put a smile on each other's faces. So maybe it's a small encouragement to say, get out there and meet somebody new. Maybe the impact was just that night, but maybe the impact is people having their own ideas of how they might interact with people they wouldn't have otherwise."
There's still time to pay it forward
You can support the Altona Tim Horton's Holiday Smile Cookie campaign through Sunday with the proceeds split between TCE and Tim Horton's Children's Camps.
Peters hopes the town-wide blitz will inspire others to pay it forward and buy a cookie as a random act of kindness or in the pursuit of making new connections.
