Tim Hortons teams up with Boulet family on cookie charity

By Lethbridge Herald on November 13, 2023.

Fire chief Greg Adair, LPS Chief Shahin Mehdizadeh, mayor Blaine Hyggen, Toby Boulet and daughter Mariko were all smiles as the inaugural National Holiday Smile Cookie Week kicked off on Monday at the downtown Tim Hortons. Herald photo by Al Beeber

Al Beeber – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – abeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

Green Shirt Day isn’t until next April 7 but thanks to the 14 Tim Hortons franchises in Lethbridge, it will be supported in the inaugural National Holiday Smile Cookie Week which opened Monday and runs through Sunday.

The local charity run by the Boulet family was chosen to be a joint recipient of funds raised from cookie sales along with Tim Hortons Foundation Camps. Each will get 50 per cent of proceeds raised from sales of the $1.50 cookies.

On Monday at the downtown Scenic Drive location, Toby Boulet, his daughter Mariko along with Mayor Blaine Hyggen, Lethbridge Police Services chief Shahin Mehdizadeh and Fire/EMS Chief Greg Adair decorated special holiday cookies with icing for eager buyers.

Franchise owner/operator Dave Lawlor of the Centre City location told media Monday that he expects the cookies to sell in bunches. 

The May cookie sale saw about 49,000 sold in total by the 14 city franchises, 6,000 alone at the Scenic Drive location. That endeavour benefited Family Centre programs and services in Lethbridge.

“Any time you have the opportunity to talk about organ donation or Smile cookies, or anything throughout the community, this is a special day that combines a couple of them  – Smile Day and the Logan Boulet Effect,” said Hyggen before heading to the pediatric ward of Chinook Regional Hospital to deliver treats.

“Everybody wants to be a part and contribute any way they can. It’s all about community, it’s about culture, it’s about being together and enjoying what the city has to offer and this is one of those special days,” said the mayor.

Toby Boulet said his family was contacted by local Tim Hortons owners about the idea and “it was really exciting.”

Boulet has 120 volunteers who will be decorating cookies all week at five of the city locations.

“It’s like driving a Zamboni – everybody wants to drive a Zamboni and everybody wants to go behind the Tims counter and make something. I get to go behind the Tims counter with these other guys and my daughter – we get to decorate cookies. It’s just fun to be there,” Boulet said.

“It’s quite an opportunity,” Boulet said. 

“It’s pretty cool that we get to push it now and get people thinking about it,” Boulet said of Green Shirt Day which will also have a new logo designed by an Indigenous artist who had a  kidney transplant from a living donor – his twin brother.

Teaming up with the Boulets was a joint decision by the local franchise owners, Lawlor said.

“The option came out and we all kind of talked about it as a group of owners here in the city,” said Lawlor.

Lawlor, who only recently met the Boulets, calls them “an awesome, humble family. Just to hear about where all the funds were going to go, it just seems so fitting to associate Logan with the green shirt component added in with the camp. It really says something, especially with the holiday season coming up. It was a great fit,” said Lawlor.

“I was blown away with the amount of effort that the Boulets have put in,” added Lawlor.

Lawlor said he wouldn’t be surprised if the holiday campaign comes close to the sales of the spring one.

Hyggen kicked off sales by purchasing $300 worth of cookies and the store has about six or seven big pre-orders with 300 to 400 cookies apiece.

“And that’s just us,” Lawlor added.

“Everyone has been so supportive,” he said.

Tim Hortons has been raising funds for local charities across Canada for more than 25 years. In 2022, Tim Hortons raised $15 million for more than 600 charities and community groups.