Last week’s Smile Cookie campaign proved to be a heartwarming success for the Family Resource Centre (FRC) in Portage la Prairie. With dozens of classroom visits and more than $24,400 raised, the week brought together fun, learning, and strong community support.
Peter Thiessen, program director at the FRC, delivered cookies to 17 classrooms and daycare groups over the week.
"The busiest was Friday afternoon. I was pretty busy from 12:45 until 3:00 PM. So that was a full afternoon, but I had such a good time."
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One of the highlights of the visits was the appearance of Puppet Peter, a popular figure who helps children understand and express their emotions.
"The kindergarten visits are my favourite, getting to see the kids' excitement as puppet Peter comes out of the box, and then we play a game with him, sing a song, and read a story. For older kids, I tend to talk more about why we have Puppet Peter, which is to talk about emotions with children. It's always interesting to hear the questions that they come up with. Like, ‘Why does he have a beard?’ ‘Why does he look like you?’ ‘Where do you get his clothes?’ Things like that, and of course, it always ends with smile cookies, so you can't go wrong with that," Thiessen explains.
This year’s campaign raised $24,431.39 for the FRC, surpassing last year’s total and helping ensure that vital programs for families and children continue to be offered at no cost.
Melissa Morrison, Executive Director of the FRC, emphasizes the impact of the support.
"It's so awesome just to see businesses and volunteers, the community, all of our staff come together to bring this money to fruition, it’s more than last year, which is super nice when we're looking at how much we had to fundraise this year. Between this and the support we get from the United Way, we're super excited. This will have a huge impact on our ability to offer the programs and services we do for free to the community moving forward."
Thanks to strong community support, this year’s campaign not only surpassed its fundraising goals but also ensured that Puppet Peter and other programs will continue bringing smiles to families across Portage la Prairie.
~With files from Jared Thiessen