INNISFAIL – Leslie DeRuyter was hoping to achieve a spot at the very top.
It did not quite happen, but it was close.
And most importantly it was enough to buy a brand-new bed for the Innisfail Health Centre.
“We were aiming for first, but we will take third for our first year at it,” said DeRuyter, a board member for the Innisfail Health Centre Fundraising Committee. “It’s awesome. We raised enough money to buy a bed.”
On the morning of June 18, DeRuyter and fellow board member Derek Baird were at Innisfail Tim Hortons to officially accept a cheque of $17,146 from the company that was raised during the Smile Cookie for a Bed Campaign from April 28 to May 4.
The fundraising committee was launched last November with a $475,000 campaign to purchase 28 acute care beds for the Innisfail Health Centre.
And it got off to a great start with its fundraising.
The committee was able to raise about $100,000 by early spring to purchase the first six smart beds, a sophisticated piece of medical technology designed for both patients and caregivers.
However, the committee wanted to go for a seventh bed and Tim Hortons stepped up to have the hospital fundraising committee to be the chosen charity for this year’s spring Smile Cookie campaign, which became the Smile Cookie for a Bed Campaign.
“It's incredible the amount of money that we raise and even across Canada, not just in our small town here in Innisfail but just the organizations we’re able to support and help,” said Sheri Meyer, general manager of Innisfail’s Tim Hortons. “It’s an incredible feeling this year.
“I have to admit this was the most engaged and excited I've been in a Smile Cookie campaign in a really, really long time. I'm looking forward to next year. I want to hit $20,000.”
Meyer told the Albertan the Innisfail Tim Hortons had the 13th highest fundraising total of the company’s 400 Alberta locations and placed third in its provincial district that has 40 outlets.
“We couldn't have done it without the support of the community, our committee members, anybody that volunteered to help us do this. We couldn't have done it without them,” said DeRuyter.
“We can't believe we did this well for the first year.”
