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Sweet outcomes: Smile Cookie sales top $9,000 for Boys & Girls Club

Submitted Photos Smile Cookie sales at local Tim Hortons restaurants raised more than $9,000 to benefit the Boys & Girls Club of Northern Chautauqua County. Members of the Club are pictured surrounding Executive Director Jeannie Gallaway and Tim Hortons franchise owners Dave and Gina Kron.

Last year, when Tim Hortons franchise owners Gina and Dave Kron named the Boys & Girls Club of Northern Chautauqua County as the beneficiary of their Smile Cookie sales, their fundraising goals were blown away with a record setting mark for the local businesses.

This year, the community showed that last year’s success was not a fluke.

Smile Cookie sales at local Tim Hortons restaurants in the northern end of Chautauqua County raised $9,181 to benefit the Boys and Girls Club, narrowly edging out last year’s record setting figure. This marks back-to-back years with at least $9,000 raised to benefit the Boys and Girls Club.

“I thank Gina and Dave, and all of the members of the management team for their dedication and service to the Boys and Girls Club,” said Jeannie Gallaway, Executive Director of Boys & Girls Club of Northern Chautauqua County. “They all went above and beyond pushing this campaign. It’s been so cool to see how the community received that.”

The annual Smile Cookie campaign at Tim Hortons in the area had raised between $1,500 and $2,000 in previous years for other charities outside the community, such as Oishei Children’s Hospital in Buffalo. But last year, Gina Kron wanted to shift the focus to a local organization to have more of a direct impact on the community that most of her customers call home, and the results spoke for themselves.

Dave and Gina Kron, standing left, are the franchise owners of several local Tim Hortons restaurants. They donated the proceeds of Smile Cookie sales to benefit the Boys & Girls Club of Northern Chautauqua County. Holding the check is the Club’s Executive Director, Jeannie Gallaway with members of the board of directors.

“It’s a testament to show how much people are really supporting the Boys & Girls Club and what they do in the community,” Kron said. “It’s really important to have a place for these kids to go… The community really rallied behind it.”

Gina and Dave Kron operate Tim Hortons locations across the county, including in Dunkirk, Fredonia, Cassadaga, and Westfield. One of their managers, Holly Lanphere, felt the impact of the decision firsthand as the parent of two children who attend the Boys and Girls Club. Lanphere helped decorate Smile Cookies with members of the Club at the launch of the campaign last year, and also visited the Club for its annual Christmas Party to decorate donuts with the children at the Club, including her own. Gallaway noted that several parents of children at the Club work at one of the locations Gina and Dave Kron operate.

“We are so happy with the support we receive every day from our community,” Gina Kron said after last year’s sales. “For us to be able to give back to our community, really is what we stand for. It makes us so happy to be able to do that.”

Gallaway also noted how Tim Hortons and the Boys and Girls Club have similar mission statements on a grand scale, but locally, the faces for the two organizations are every bit as aligned. Gallaway said she hopes the partnership with Gina and Dave Kron continues for many years to come.

“Having the support of Gina and Dave has been awesome,” Gallaway said. “Knowing that we have such incredible people in our community makes you want to work harder, it makes you want to collaborate.”

The proceeds from the Smile Cookie sales will fund summer field trips, just like a year ago when the Club visited the Buffalo Science Museum, Urban Air Adventure Park, Explore & More Children’s Museum, the Greystone Nature Preserve, and Sunset Bay. Last year’s leftover funds covered first aid needs, while this year’s remaining funds will be put toward the Great Futures Scholarship Fund.

The success of the campaign was crucial to the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Chautauqua County due to the fact that most of the Club’s grant funding was allocated to programming during the school year, rather than to address transportation costs for out-of-town trips. The strong support from the community through the Smile Cookie campaign allows for the kids at the Club to enjoy several trips again this summer.

“Having people in the community that want to support the community is how you build,” Gallaway said.

She called the donation an “investment” in the community they all call home. “They choose to invest in us and in our kids’ futures, and that means everything.”

“I’m super excited to see how this campaign can grow and how we can continue to put smiles on people’s faces,” Gallaway said. “It’s just a simple cookie, but it really does impact their day.

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