The Trenton Memorial Hospital Foundation has thousands of reasons to smile today thanks to Quinte West Tim Horton’s restaurants and local residents.

Tim Hortons handed over a cheque for almost $40,000, the proceeds from this year’s Smile Cookies campaign.  That total included $5,000 from Leon’s for its Buy a Bed campaign.

The presentation took place at the Division Street Tim Hortons which this year sold almost 15,000 Smile Cookies, the most in Eastern Ontario.

Josephine and Doug Robertson, who own five of the six Quinte West Tim Horton’s stressed that members of the community truly rallied around the efforts to raise money for TMHF.

They noted that while sales were down this year due to COVID, cookie sales were at record levels.

“This was due to the community and all their support, buying all these cookies throughout the community,” Josephine Robertson said. “We will be forever grateful to everyone for helping out. It was an amazing year.

Robertson, whose efforts were joined by Jamie Smid of the Dundas Street East Tim Hortons, said the hospital foundation was simply a logical choice this year.

“Because this was the year of COVID and the hospital needed our support we decided to make Trenton Memorial Hospital our choice this year,” Robertson said.

TMHF executive director Wendy Warner said the foundation was grateful to all its great community partners and the people throughout the community who continue to support their efforts

“We are ecstatic with the numbers and results,” she said. “It’s been a total team effort. We are just over the moon.

“The last time we did this a couple years ago, we were at about $25,000. To be up to about $40,000 this year is quite a jump so we are thrilled.”

Warner noted that partnerships like Tim Horton’s and Leon’s help the foundation raise what it does to provide medical equipment to the hospital.

“We’ve got a great community,” she said. “Everybody her is so generous and so thoughful of their hospital.”