After all the numbers were tallied late last week, the Moosomin Tim Horton’s learned that they had come in second out of all locations in Saskatchewan for Holiday Smile Cookie sales, with the Moosomin location raising $11,443.

“We had a great week and sold over $11,000 worth of cookies,” said Greg Crisanti, owner of the Moosomin Tim Horton’s, who added that Moosomin was 15th across Canada in terms of sales. “Mother Nature wasn’t on our side for this one, but that’s just how it is,” Crisanti said. “Of course, we’re still very happy and proud of what our team accomplished. We had some great volunteers in there, and it was just amazing, coming together for a great cause.”

The top location in the province was Humboldt, who raised $17,637.

All money raised from the week-long Holiday Smile Cookie campaign is split between the Tim Horton’s Foundation Camps and a local group—this time McNaughton High School, who will receive $5,721.50 for upgrades at the school.

“The energy is palpable, that’s for sure,” described Tegan Matichuk, chair of the Student Representative Council, of the vibe during the event. “You can feel it!”

With a blizzard paralyzing the area for two days during Smile Cookie Week, Matichuk says pre-orders were especially important this year.

“The pre-orders were very important,” Matichuk confirmed. “We were very thankful that lots of people stepped up to do the pre-orders and get school sponsored. A lot of the pre-orders were businesses buying for businesses.”

Crisanti also credited the people of Moosomin for once again supporting a wonderful local cause.

“Our ovens get a total workout that week, and they’re on constantly throughout the night,” he said with a laugh. “A huge thank you to our team at the store, because without them, this wouldn’t be possible. Our team loves doing it, and coming together during these campaigns and coming out even stronger.”

However, once the week is over, Crisanti said it’s not uncommon to notice team members’ hands matching the same colours used in the icing on the Holiday Smile Cookies!

McNaughton students busy

Matichuk explained that the students from McNaughton High School were involved in many facets of the Holiday Smile Cookie campaign. Some were in charge of pick-up and delivery of orders, mostly in town, but some cookies travelled as far as Wapella.

“We also had students from our Commercial Cooking class, from our Home Economics class, and students who just happened to have a spare at a certain point in time—they would go and help decorate the Smile Cookies,” Matichuk said.

The big question for the SRC now is where to devote the money raised through the fundraiser. A survey was distributed to McNaughton students on Nov. 15 asking that question, with the deadline for submissions being Dec. 1.

“Once we get the information in from the students and staff—and by then, we’ll know the actual, finalized grand total—we’ll be able to at least narrow down our priority list,” Matichuk said.

When asked if, given the opportunity, the school might consider participating in the fundraiser again now that they’re more aware of all the work involved, Matichuk was quick to answer with “I would be very happy if we became the recipients again!”

“It was something that we enjoyed being involved in, and we could see that it definitely benefited both our kids to do that volunteer component, and the funds raised will benefit our school,” she said. “So absolutely, we would say yes, if we became the recipients again. But I know Moosomin is such an amazing area that we live in that there are other organizations that would benefit from it, too. We would love to be a part of it again, but we definitely understand that this generosity gets spread to our community.”

The next fundraiser is not too far away as the spring Smile Cookie fundraiser takes place in May.

“Before we know it, we’re going to be here in May, and we’ll be doing it all again,” Crisanti said. “We’re getting excited for that, and we’re going to be inquiring, then searching out for our next local recipient and charity. So we’re excited to see who that will be.”