Our Initiatives: Community Success
COMMUNITY INITIATIVES: OUR LOCAL, REGIONAL AND NATIONAL PROGRAMS
Our Restaurant Owners live in, and are a part of, the communities where we do business. We’re proud to have established a reputation for giving back to our communities and are
continually looking for ways to better support the cities and towns where our guests live.
By working together with our Restaurant Owners, we have developed a number of local, regional and national programs as outlined below. In 2012, this represented approximately
$15.9 million of funding that went back to support the communities where we do business.
Timbits Minor Sports
One of our most widely recognized programs is our Timbits Minor Sports program for entry-level children aged four to eight years old.
Together with our Restaurant Owners, we provide funding for associations to acquire uniforms and much-needed items that help offset costs for parents and volunteers.
We annually invest more than $3,000,000 in children’s sports. We make this commitment because we believe it is important that children benefit from participating in team sports
and have the opportunity to take time out to be a child.
Our Timbits Minor Sports program began with Timbits Hockey almost 25 years ago in New Brunswick, when one of our long-standing Restaurant Owners, Gary O’Neill,
provided a set of jerseys to a local team in Riverview. Restaurant Owners from across Canada heard about the program and also began providing jerseys and sponsorship to
minor hockey associations across the country. Our most famous Timbits participant is NHL star Sidney Crosby, who began his hockey career as a Timbits player in Cole
Harbour, Nova Scotia, in 1993.
Today almost 78,000 children are sponsored by local Restaurant Owners in Timbits Minor Hockey. More than 196,000 children are sponsored in Timbits Minor Soccer and
more than 33,000 children are sponsored in other Timbits Minor Sports including baseball, basketball, lacrosse, football, curling and more.
Smile Cookie
Our Smile Cookie program is a very unique program that raises much-needed funds for charities across Canada and the United States. Each year, for one week during September,
we sell special Smile Cookies (our famous chocolate chip cookies decorated with a smiley face). During that time, 100% of the proceeds from the sale of our Smile Cookies are
donated to local charities, hospitals and community programs. The Smile Cookie program began in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1996 and was initiated by a local Restaurant Owner whose
daughter had been treated at Chedoke McMaster Hospital. They were interested in supporting the hospital, so our Restaurant Owners in the area baked and sold special cookies
with an icing smiley face.
In 2012, the Smile Cookie Program enabled donations of approximately $4.4 million to local community organizations across Canada and the United States.
Click
here for a list of all 312 charitable organizations that received Smile Cookie funding in
Canada in 2012.
Free Skating and Swimming
Another popular program is our Free Holiday Skate program where we rent almost 4,100 hours of ice time at more than 360 local arenas across Canada during the holiday season.
This provides a great opportunity for families and friends to spend quality time together at no cost. Our program continues to grow in popularity, with many arenas at capacity
during the skating sessions.
Similarly, our Free Swim program provides an opportunity for families to enjoy time together at a local swimming pool. In 2012, more than 2,500 hours of pool time was sponsored
across local communities.
Food Drives
Our annual Tim Hortons food drives are an important stock replenishment source for local food banks across the country. In 2012, more than 532,200 pounds and over
7,200 units of food were collected in regions across Canada through the Tim Hortons food drive. The program asked that our guests drop off non-perishable food items.
These items were collected and shipped to local area food banks. Some local restaurants also made a donation of non-perishable food items, such as juice, to their local
food bank.
Earn-a-Bike
The Tim Hortons Earn-a-Bike program is a community-oriented sponsorship program where children between the ages of 10 and 14 team up with community partners to help clean up their
local streets, parks and schools. The participants complete 30 hours of community service and are rewarded with their very own Tim Hortons mountain bike and helmet, courtesy of their
local Restaurant Owners. Children are selected from organizations such as Big Brothers and Big Sisters and their local police department, who also co-ordinate the program and provide
supervision while the children are out doing their part to make their community a cleaner, brighter place to live. In 2012, 476 children participated in the program across 18 communities
in Canada.
Horizons: Aboriginal Relations at Tim Hortons
Horizons
Horizons was chosen as the signature name to represent Tim Hortons’ relationship with the Aboriginal community. It reflects a bright future, new interests and experiences, achievement
and a quest with no limits. The accompanying graphic brings together a number of important elements. Central to the logo is a vibrating drum – the Indigenous symbol of communications,
ceremony and celebration. Within the drum circle, the bursting sun signifies strength, opportunity and the energy of life. Mother Earth is represented by the warm colours of the rich soil.
The three cultural motifs honour First Nations (Eagle feather), Métis (Infinity symbol) and Inuit (Inukshuk).
Over the past several years we have been working on implementing a meaningful, structured and long-term partnership with the Aboriginal community.
Our Aboriginal relations philosophy, strategy and programs are guided by the following principles:
- Our programs must be sustainable;
- Our programs must have a clear benefit;
- Our programs must be community-based; and
- Our programs must be supported by the Aboriginal community.
To provide some structure to our guiding principles we have developed an Aboriginal relations framework that comprises four key areas of focus:
1) Education; 2) Empowering Youth; 3) Economic Development; and 4) Employment. We call our Aboriginal relations strategy and outreach program Horizons.
Learn more about the Horizons program! Click here
In 2012, we made progress in each of our key focus areas as follows:
Education
Our education efforts are centred on raising awareness, within the Tim Hortons family, of the issues and opportunities facing Aboriginal people. In 2012, we had
approximately 42,000 Restaurant Team Members complete Aboriginal awareness training, and in total since 2009, almost 250,000 have completed this training.
Empowering Youth
In 2012, 2,300 Aboriginal youth attended our Tim Horton Children’s Foundation camps to participate in structured learning programs. The programs typically include
overnight stays, accompanied by elders and community leaders. The youth experience team building, confidence building and interpersonal skills development. Included in
the programming is exposure to Aboriginal culture and language.
In 2012, we continued our partnership with the Ted Nolan Foundation (TNF) and hosted 236 youth from the Ted Nolan Foundation at our camps. This is the fourth year of our partnership. Since 2009,
more than 400 Aboriginal youth have participated in the TNF leadership camp program.
Economic Development
Our economic focus is centred on building restaurants on Aboriginal lands as well as encouraging Aboriginal ownership of the restaurants. As of the end of 2012, we had 12 locations on
reserves (the majority under lease agreements), and five restaurants were Aboriginal-owened. As outlined in our goals and commitments, we are committed to growing these numbers in the future.
Further, we are proud supporters of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB). The CCAB is a national non-profit organization that is dedicated to helping companies increase
employment, foster positive business relations and create economic opportunities for Aboriginal people, businesses and communities across Canada.
Employment
Our vision over time is to become an employer of choice for the Aboriginal community. Understanding workplace cultural differences and the recruitment and retention of Aboriginal employees
is important to our Company, given that the fastest-growing youth demographic in Canada is Aboriginal youth.
Following a successful pilot in 2011, we are working to broaden workshops for Aboriginal Inclusion, partnering with Aboriginal Human Resources Council. The objective of the workshop was
to share best practices and to discuss new ways of recruiting and retaining Aboriginal community members, as Tim Hortons restaurant team members.
We continue to partner with Algonquin College on a unique Aboriginal education-labour attraction initiative. In 2011, we piloted the Aboriginal Students Education to Employment Program
(ASEEP) in Ottawa, employing five Aboriginal students in Tim Hortons restaurants. This pilot program focused on job readiness training as well as the cultural issues that are involved
in a “first job” experience.
Corporate Giving
We believe we have a positive role to play in enabling communities to thrive and grow. We are proud to support a number of causes each year, either through financial support,
product donations or gifts-in-kind and employee volunteer time. Annually, we also provide a $1.25 million corporate donation to the Tim Horton
Children’s Foundation, which provides disadvantaged children with the opportunity to go to camp.
With our network of more than 4,300 restaurants across Canada and the U.S., we can make a big impact by helping to facilitate charitable giving by our Tim Hortons family.
This includes our Restaurant Owners, Restaurant Team Members and guests. Together with our Restaurant Owners, we also facilitate programs such as Camp Day (raises funds for the Tim Horton
Children’s Foundation) and Smile Cookie (raises funds for local charities) to provide a quick and easy way for our guests to help us Make a True Difference in the communities where they
live. To raise awareness of these and other charitable causes, our support includes media, advertising and the provision of products and other promotional materials.
For more details on our corporate giving, and facilitated giving by our Restaurant Owners, Restaurant Team Members and guests, please visit our Community Giving Summary.
2012 COMMUNITY GIVING SUMMARY
| |
Approximate amount (CAD) |
| Community giving from Tim Hortons Inc. |
$ 2,300,000 |
| Community giving from Restaurant Owners, facilitated by Tim Hortons Inc.1 |
18,000,000 |
| Community giving from guests and partners, facilitated by Tim Hortons Inc.2 |
24,200,000 |
| TOTAL COMMUNITY GIVING |
$ 44,500,000 |
Tim Hortons Support of the Military
In 2012, Tim Hortons sponsored the “True Patriot Love” Tribute Dinner in Toronto. True Patriot Love is a national foundation established by corporate and community leaders to raise funds
for programs that support the well-being and morale of members of the Canadian military, veterans, and their families.
We also support veterans and assist with fundraising efforts by placing poppy boxes in all restaurants leading up to Remembrance/Veterans Day. Additionally, on November 11, all
veterans receive a free coffee or donut in our restaurants.
Our work with STRIDE: a community-based vocational rehabilitation program
Since the mid 1990s, we have worked with STRIDE (Supported Training and Rehabilitation in Diverse Environments), a Halton-based non-profit organization providing employment support
services for people living with mental health and addiction challenges.
Clients of STRIDE’s Training Program have assisted Tim Hortons with assembly and packaging work on major campaigns such as “Roll Up the Rim” and “Camp Day,” as well as new product
launches and marketing initiatives. Through STRIDE’s Employment Connections Program, several of STRIDE’s clients have also obtained jobs in the community working at
Tim Horton corporate and franchised locations.
STRIDE client Tracy Marchand working on Tim Hortons gift baskets
For almost twenty years, STRIDE has enjoyed a very successful working relationship with Tim Hortons. As a non-profit organization providing employment support services for
people living with mental health and addiction challenges, we rely on companies like Tim Hortons to provide various work-related opportunities for our clients.
Thank you Tims for helping us make a difference in the lives of people facing mental health and addiction challenges. Thank you for your commitment and support as we
continue to look for new and innovative ways to enhance our services. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Tim Hortons for many years to come.
Anita Lloyd, Executive Director, STRIDE
Fruition Fruits & Fills: Community Giving
Our Fruition Fruits & Fills facility donates its used blueberry pails to communities in developing countries. The pails have a variety of uses, including as storage containers
for food or water; as pieces of furniture; as tools, such as a shovel or fish net; or even as a place to bathe small children.
We would like to thank Tim Hortons for their consistent donation of square pails and lids. The pails are valued items in developing countries where the need is so great.
I have had the opportunity to see first-hand the delight on someone’s face when they receive a pail.
Shelley Stone, OCG Manager
In 2010, our Fruition Fruits & Fills facility purchased BioSand filters to help offset some of its water use. These filters have provided 800,000 liters per year of
clean drinking water to the people of South Sudan, which helps prevent water-related illnesses such as typhoid, cholera and dysentery.
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