Smile Cookie Campaign raises over 41 grand for Reading College

“The Reading College is an amazing program that’s making a huge difference in the lives of kids and we could not do this without the support of Tim Hortons and really our community,” he explains. “It’s 41, 238 cookies that were bought by the people of Red Deer and Tim Hortons makes that happen. We’re just grateful that people step forward and recognize the value of this program.”

Buruma adds the Smile Cookie Campaign is their primary funding source for Reading College.

“It’s supporting the costs of the program,” he explains. “When you’ve got 63 kids for 20 days and you’re bussing them and you’re feeding them and you’re teaching them and you’re giving them great experiences, it’s not an inexpensive program for us to run. That’s why partners like Tim Hortons and the Optimist Clubs and other ones like those are essential, we don’t have money in the district to do this, it relies entirely on the support of our donors.”

Grace Page, a teacher at Reading College, says the kids that take part absolutely love the experience, despite it taking place in July when most other kids are enjoying a break from school.

“The cool thing is, there’s 63 kids and they’re all sort of at the same level of being just below their reading level group,” she explains. “We know that with the guided intervention that we’re doing with them, we can give them that boost that can’t be done within a regular classroom because of the numbers (7-1 student to teacher ratio). It’s a very intensive program and then when they go back to their classroom, they feel empowered and have an awful lot of confidence.”

Suzanne Robalo, Co-owner of four Tim Hortons locations in Red Deer including the south location on 22 Street, says they’re proud to support the students in Reading College.

“I don’t believe we’re just instilling reading skills, we’re instilling confidence and self-esteem,” she exclaims. “There’s nothing worse as a child that doesn’t want to be picked to read because they can’t read. Being able to put up your hand and be confident to say ‘Hey, I can read and I understand what you’re talking about’, reading comprehension, that’s really important to us.”

Robalo says it’s a great partnership with Red Deer Public Schools and a great program.

“We work very hard in September to make these cookies,” states Robalo. “Often times we’re very short-staffed but we do it for the kids and the college and we make it happen.”

Husband Abe Robalo points-out 7.8 million cookies were sold across Canada during Tim Hortons Smile Cookie Campaign this year.

by Sheldon Spackman

Smile Cookie Campaign raises over 41 grand for Reading College

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