Whether rescuing food or rescuing people, two local organizations will get a big boost from the annual Smile Cookie campaign at local Tim Hortons locations this spring.
Sault Search and Rescue and Connect the Dots Community Harvest are this year’s recipients of the local campaign, which runs from April 29 to May 5 – with all proceeds from the cookie sales going to charity.
“The local owners in Sault Ste. Marie, we get together every year and we go through a selection of different charities that we think fit the bill. This year, Search and Rescue and Connect the Dots came up at the top,” said local Tim Hortons owner, Ryan DiTommaso.
“We felt it was going to be a great fit for both organizations to do great things in the community, and I think it was a great place for the money to go this year.”
Connect the Dots rescues food that might otherwise go to waste at local grocery stores for distribution to Sault charities, food banks, and soup kitchens.
Run by 14 volunteers, the charity has seen explosive growth since being founded in 2017, and projects rescuing upwards of 100,000 pounds of food in 2025 and up to 250,000 pounds next year.
This year’s Smile Cookie proceeds will go towards helping the charity buy a new van for deliveries.
“We've been working closely with Harvest Algoma – they do have a cargo van and we borrow it when they're not using it,” said founder Tim Kelly. “If we can get another vehicle along the road in the community that's doing food rescue work, it'll allow us to up the ante – and there's lots and lots of demand.”
Kelly said Connect the Dots is “thrilled” to have been chosen for the campaign this year.
“We've been eyeing up getting a van on the road for a couple of years now,” he said. “Now is the time, and this was a really good break.”
Run entirely by volunteers and donations, Sault Search and Rescue is similarly excited about being chosen.
“It's fantastic, and especially getting to connect Connect the Dots,” said Search and Rescue’s Jack Rice.
“It's a very worthwhile cause for us.”
With over 70 volunteers and a fleet of boats, ATVS, trucks, and more, Sault Search and Rescue logs upwards of 4,000 volunteer hours per year assisting with land, air, and marine search and rescue efforts.
“Every dollar, every cent we can get is helpful in supporting what we do and keeping us running,” Rice said.
“We'll go out to any given catastrophe, any incident, all year long, and we'll assist, whether it's on the water, by land, snow machine, ice, whatever – that's what we do.”
Search and Rescue’s Randall Roy said their volunteers come from “all walks of life.”
“People who are interested in getting out there and helping other people – that's all we ask for,” he said. “We have well-trained, qualified personnel that go out, and our costs are fairly high for operating and keeping our equipment running.”
Running for over 25 years, the Smile Cookie campaign has raised over $111 million for charity since it began – including a record-breaking $19.7 million last year.