A campaign to collect winning Tim Hortons coffee rims for Out of the Cold attendees has succeeded past organizers’ expectations.
Cec Joyal, a 15-year volunteer at the Out of the Cold program at St. Louis Roman Catholic Parish on Allen Street in Waterloo, has been collecting Roll Up the Rim winners since she began volunteering.
She would then give those rims to Out of the Cold attendees as they left the church in the morning.
The program expanded over the years, with Joyal collecting 600 winning rims in 2013.
This year, she’d set a goal of 1,000 rims.
As of Tuesday, Joyal said in an email, 2,855 rims had been collected during the 2014 campaign.
“I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support I received this year from so many amazing people,” she said in the email.
In addition, Joyal said, gift cards for Tim Hortons and free coffee vouchers from other fast food restaurants were sent in.
With Roll Up the Rim taking place early in the year, the Out of the Cold guests have in past years only received the fruits of Joyal’s labour for the last few weeks of the program.
This year’s donations, she said, are enough that theycan be given out as soon as Out of the Cold starts running in the fall.
“It will be a nice surprise for them,” she said.
“Being able to enter a Tim Hortons establishment to get food and beverage without having to beg for money beforehand gives our guests dignity and self-worth.”
