This year's Smile Cookie Week, which ran from April 28th to May 4th, raised over $15,000 for the Weyburn and District Hospital Foundation (WDHF).
Whitney Johnson, office manager for the WDHF, says this is almost $2000 more than what was raised last year. The funds raised will go to the construction and equipment for the new hospital.
Johnson says that while they had volunteers lined up for the entire week, individuals and groups from around the community showed up to support.
“There were high school students, there was our MLA, there were employees from a dentist office. Lots of people just wanted to volunteer, so they contacted Tim Hortons and made it happen. We also had volunteers from the Weyburn Chamber of Commerce, Weyburn Regional Economic Development and Weyburn Tourism.”
She expresses her surprise with the number of cookies sold as well, saying she wasn’t expecting a greater turnout than last year, since the price had increased from $1.50 to $2.00.
“I think Tim Hortons wasn't expecting it to be as busy as it was and I know when we did the check presentation, the manager told me they sold out the Saturday too.”
WDHF also ran a social media campaign throughout the week, where the community could tag local businesses to purchase some smile cookies. Johnson says it saw a lot of support.
“Thank you to everyone who volunteered and everyone in the community and outside of Weyburn that purchased cookies and helped raise the $15,000 for the foundation.”