Hungry for a donut? Maybe a Christmas with Dignity Donut? Between 6:00p.m on Christmas Eve and 6:00a.m Boxing Day – that’s exactly what you can get if you stop into our local Chestermere Tim Horton’s, and you’ll feel good knowing 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Chestermere’s Christmas with Dignity (CWD) campaign.
Available only at our local Tim Horton’s restaurant, the new festive CWD Donut will feature a unique half red, half green sprinkle design.
This will be no surprise to anyone who knows Andrew Marriott, the owner of our local Tim Horton’s. He is a constant and friendly face in the local restaurant and he is also tremendously generous with supporting our community in so many countless ways. Marriott will be matching the proceeds of the donut as well as all other donations made at the store toward CWD.
Typically speaking, most Tim Horton’s restaurants close their doors Christmas Eve, reopening them on Boxing Day, giving employees the opportunity to spend time with family. As Marriott explains, there are only about 2-3 stores in the Calgary region that remain open during one of the most anticipated days of the year.
In past years, Marriott has opened up the popular restaurant on Christmas Day, only serving coffee and working by himself. “This community is in many ways my family” says Marriott.
Marriott explains that he has many employees that do not celebrate Christmas so they offered to work over the holiday this year which will see the store open all through the holidays, and will allow the franchise to provide the full menu and full drive-thru during this time. “The employees that volunteered to work these shifts will be compensated for their time, receiving stat pay plus,” says Marriott who goes on to add “I left it up to them and many said that because they do not celebrate Christmas for various reasons, they would have no problem working on December 25.”
So Marriott decided if he was to remain open- he would make it count. That why this year, he asked the head office if he could receive special permission to do something new, to which they responded yes. His team has created the all new “Christmas with Dignity Donut and 100% of proceeds will go directly toward the local CWD campaign, organized by Chestermere Community Services.
But that’s not all. Tim Horton’s locations across Canada are generally only permitted to collect donations in the donation boxes (which are located at the tills) for the Tim Horton’s kids camp foundation; but in Chestermere, for 36 hours those collection boxes will be transformed into Dignity boxes and again, all funds collected will support local families. Again, Marriott will be matching all the donations collected and proceeds from the sale of the special donut through these efforts.
“We are so thankful for the incredible generosity that Andrew has offered and his support will go a long way in providing local individuals and families’ support of their basic needs,” says Danielle Fermin, Community Resource Centre Coordinator for Chestermere Community Services.
The CWD program is an annual campaign that raises money for families in need in Chestermere. Money raised through donations is placed in a fund that is provided to temporarily help families pay for their basic needs and allows them to provide small Christmas gifts for their children.
