This September, four local Tim Hortons restaurants will help celebrate the opening of the new North Island Hospital Comox Valley campus by donating the proceeds of the 2017 Smile Cookie Campaign to the Comox Valley Healthcare Foundation (CVHF).

From Sept. 11鈥�17, the four Tim Hortons restaurants will be selling their iconic Smile Cookies to fundraise for CVHF. Each cookie sells for $1 plus tax, and $1 from each cookie sold will directly benefit healthcare in our community.

鈥淢y partners Stephen, Tracy and I really enjoyed the public tours (of the new hospital) that recently took place. It鈥檚 an incredible facility,鈥� said Jennie Brocklehurst, co-owner of the Ryan Road Tim Hortons. 鈥淚 was taken aback by the advances in technology that will be available in the new hospital that will be beneficial to patients and staff alike.

鈥淲e are pleased that we were able to select the Healthcare Foundation for this year鈥檚 campaign.鈥�

Tim Hortons restaurant owners support more than 460 local charities, hospitals and community programs nationally through the Smile Cookie campaign. The campaign began in 1996 to help raise funds for the Hamilton Children鈥檚 Hospital in Ontario, and since then has become a major fundraising event across the country.

Last year alone the Smile Cookie campaign raised over $7 million across Canada.

鈥淲e鈥檙e truly grateful to co-owners Jennie, Stephen and Tracy to choose us as the recipients of this year鈥檚 Smile Cookie campaign in our community,鈥� said Katie Maximick, communications and fund development representative for CVHF.

鈥淣ot only will this help raise funds to support local healthcare needs; it will also help raise awareness for who we are and what we do for the Comox Valley while celebrating the opening of the new hospital on October 1.

鈥淭his is a really exciting time for healthcare in our community, and we love to see businesses like Tim Hortons and many others in the area coming together to help us celebrate the opening of this amazing facility while giving back,鈥� she said.

To ensure as many cookies are sold as possible during this campaign, Brocklehurst encourages people and businesses to order larger quantities of cookies at a time for meetings, lunches, customer appreciation and functions to help give back to local healthcare needs.

鈥淚 have such a sense of pride that such a state-of-the-art and stunning hospital is right here in the Comox Valley,鈥� Brocklehurst said, 鈥淎nd this is a really yummy way to support it and the Foundation.鈥�

Smile Cookie week runs Sept. 11 to 17 at the four main Tim Hortons restaurants in the Comox Valley. Visit www.timhortons.com for more information.