THE BATTLEFORDS — Smile more, because every cookie makes a difference. A week-long campaign through Tim Horton’s Smile Cookie initiative, April 29-May 5, provided as many smiles as smile cookies for the Living Sky School Division, Living Sky Innovation Fund.
Kelsie Valliere. PR/advancement specialist, tells the North Battleford News Optimist and SASKTODAY.ca, “Tim Horton’s has an application form on their site and applications are due Dec. 31 of the previous calendar year. An LSkySD employee had mentioned to Christeena Fisher that the Innovation Fund should apply for the campaign and Christeena decided it would be a good fit for the augmentative and alternative communication board project the Living Sky Innovation Fund was working on, based on the criteria.”
Fisher heads the Living Sky Innovation Fund and was responsible for the Smile Cookie Campaign application.
Proceeds from this campaign will go towards installing several augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) boards on playgrounds around the division.
“These boards ensure that all students can communicate with friends and teachers while playing. This initiative was brought forward by our speech and language pathology team who highlighted that many students have difficulty verbally communicating for a variety of reasons, so they need other ways to talk. Communication is a human right and these boards will promote play and inclusion for everyone. Schools receiving the boards will be chosen based on need and how much we are able to raise. Each board will cost approximately $2,500 to build and install,” adds the LSkySD office.
The Smile Cookie campaign goal was to raise enough money for six boards, if possible.
Staff from central services, as well as from some of the schools, participated in decorating cookies each morning. The division also ran a student content to generate hype leading up to the campaign where students submitted designs for how they would decorate their smile cookies if they were the lead decorator for Tim Hortons.
Valliere said, “We received nearly 200 entries, and three schools were chosen at random as winners and received smile cookies for their class during the week. The winning classes were Connaught Elementary School Pre-K, Hartley Clark Elementary School Grade 1/2 class in Spiritwood and Battleford Central School Pre-K.”
The Smile Cookie campaign is set out by Tim Hortons locations to partner with local charities and community groups to make a difference in the communities they serve.
Valliere acknowledges LSkySD felt lucky to have been chosen as this year’s recipient. “The owners and staff of our local Tims’ locations have been so welcoming and were really excited to be part of making these communication boards a reality.”
The Living Sky Innovation Fund is in its first full year so having partnership opportunities like this makes a real difference in the initiatives they can support. Valliere noted that on April 30, for instance, 300 cookies had been sold before 9:30 a.m. at a single location. The community support has been appreciated. Both the Battlefords and Meadow Lake locations smile cookie proceeds will be donated to the Living Sky Innovation AAC Board Project.
People wanting to learn more about the Living Sky Innovation Fund or get involved can do so by visiting the website at: .
