Making a difference

It is well known that Tim Hortons is very generous in their donations to many worthwhile charities and projects. However, the far reaching affect of a donation is sometimes not always apparent. Not long ago we donated a Tim Hortons bike and a Tim Hortons barbecue to a local hospices fundraiser nothing unusual about that we do these things all the time. What is not known is just how much difference these two donations made to the happiness of a terminal cancer patient. The organizer of the fund raiser was thrilled to receive these donations, and was sitting in her office wondering when she would find the time to get these items out of their boxes and put together before the big night. One of the hospice case workers dropped by the office for a chat. She explained that she had a client, a terminally ill man, who was feeling particularly useless. This man was a mechanic who was no longer able to work on a regular basis what little time he had left was hanging heavily he had told his case worker that he felt like he was just hanging around waiting to die. The case worker was looking for something that she could give her client to do that would make him feel as though he could still contribute. The organizer suggested that he might like to come into the hospice and put the bike and barbecue together. A couple of days later the client arrived at the offices with tool box at the ready. He was obviously thrilled that someone had asked for his help. The Tim Hortons bike was assembled and the client promised that he would be back in a couple of days to put together the barbecue. True to his word, back he came and made a great job of assembling the barbecue ready for transportation to the fund raising dinner and auction. The client never did see the barbecue and bike that he had so happily put together, being displayed at the fund raiser. He passed away a couple of days before the event took place. His case worker reported that he had been made so happy in those last few days of his life, being made to feel useful. So you see our donations do make a difference. Sometimes in very small, but very important ways.