Vernon’s Dan Currie has seen children with seemingly zero chance of a bright future actually realize a new life.
It’s why the owner of Tim Hortons Restaurants in the North Okanagan keeps pushing the Camp Day charity each year.
The 27th annual national Camp Day, with its theme of Buy A Coffee, Change A Life, goes next Wednesday at Tim Hortons outlets in Vernon, Armstrong and Enderby.
“All coffee sales for the day go to the camps,” said Currie. “You can buy wristbands for a $2 donation and we’ll have a few prizes to give away. We raised $13 million nationally last year and it’s such a good cause.”
Every penny from coffee purchases is donated to the Tim Horton Children’s Foundation. The funds will help send more than 14,000 kids on the camping adventure of a lifetime. Campers aged nine to 12 years attend a 10-day summer session or a seven-day winter experience, at one of the Foundation’s six camps in Canada and the U.S.
“These camps are for building confidence in the kids, to show them what life can offer,” said Currie. “All of them come from tough backgrounds and they usually come out of their shells. There are some good stories out there. Kids come out of the camp and we pay for their university and they get degrees. I know there was one case of a young girl who lost her parents. Her dad was a drug addict and her mom was a prostitute. We sent her to camp and she ended up going to school and earning a degree.
“People don’t realize how many kids go to school each day hungry because of a tough home life. We send kids from here to Ontario camps and the kids from out East come out here. They try and mix things up.”
During their time at camp, kids participate in a wide range of first-class programs and activities designed to build self-esteem and leadership skills. The Foundation is committed to providing an enriched and memorable experience for campers, giving them confidence in their abilities, pride in their accomplishments and a more positive view of the world and their place in it.
The Tim Horton Children’s Foundation is a non-profit charitable organization founded in 1974. Funding for the Foundation comes from Tim Hortons Camp Day, fundraising activities, special events, year-round public donations collected through counter and drive-thru coin boxes and other donations.
Since 1975 more than 150,000 children have attended a Foundation camp at no cost to them or their families. For more information about the Tim Horton Children’s Foundation, visit thcf.com.