Tim Hortons and Riverside Health Care Facilities has a means to assuage the guilt of overindulging and give reason to nosh all the cookies you’d like.
From Nov. 17-23, every bite of a Smile Cookie at Tim Hortons in Fort Frances will help bring advanced diagnostic imaging technology by way of the district’s first MRI, thanks to the restaurant’s Holiday Smile Cookie campaign.
The proceeds from the smile cookies sold will go to support Riverside Health Care’s Lights, Camera, DIAGNOSIS! Campaign which is working to improve diagnostic imaging capabilities in the Rainy River District.
New digital radiography (X-ray) machines are on the way for both La Verendrye and Rainy River Health Centre. Equipment that is more than 20 years old will be replaced with units that will entail between 30 and 80 per cent less radiation exposure to patients.
Health care professionals will be able to perform full leg and full spine X-rays for the very first time in the district.
This will allow for more patients to be scanned daily after shorter wait times.
Cookies ordered through Riverside Health Care will be delivered Nov. 20 and 21. They can be ordered at Tim Horton’s or through Holly Kaemingh, director of fundraising at Riverside Health Care.
“Riverside has a crew of volunteers ready to tackle all of the deliveries from Fort Frances all the way to Rainy River,” she said.
Of every cookie sold, $1 will go to the diagnostic imaging campaign for the district’s first MRI and new digital radiography units for La Verendrye General Hospital and Rainy River Health Centre.
Kaemingh said the fundraising efforts for the campaign so far have raised about $375,000 of the $1.6 million target.
“This is thanks to support from across our district as well as support from outside our district,” she said. “We are so grateful for all of the support we have received to date.”
According to Riverside Health Care, the equipment has been ordered. La Verendrye General Hospital will soon be home to one of Canada’s most advanced MRI machines from Siemens Healthineers. Key highlights include a larger opening for patient comfort and dramatically faster scan times. That is, what once took 20 minutes can now be done in as little as three minutes, she said.
“Every cookie sold helps bring advanced diagnostic imaging technology to our communities, improving care for patients and families across the Rainy River District,” Kaemingh said.
“We’re so grateful to Tim Hortons for selecting us as their partner this year and can’t wait to see our community come together, one cookie at a time.”
The Tim Hortons Holiday Smile Cookie is a delicious white-chocolate sugar cookie with red and green sprinkles, hand-decorated with a cheerful white icing smile. It’s a sweet way to make better health care possible closer to home.
Last year, Canadians helped raise more than $10.7 million through the Holiday Smile Cookie campaign, including more than $6,000 locally.
Kaemingh said Riverside hopes to make that total even higher this year, all while spreading smiles across the community.
Cookies are $2 each and available for purchase at the Tim Hortons location in Fort Frances from November 17–23.
Individuals, businesses, and organizations interested in placing bulk orders or scheduling deliveries across the district can contact Kaemingh at 807-274-6635.
