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Tim Hortons plans Orange Shirt Day-themed fundraising doughnut

Sept. 30 is Orange Shirt Day, when we remember residential school survivors and their families, and it also marks the first time Canada will recognize National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as a statutory holiday.
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Tim Hortons restaurant owners Joe Quewezance, left and Mitch Shuter in front of one of their locations with a six-pack of the orange sprinkle doughnuts. Photo courtesy of Tim Hortons

Sept. 30 is Orange Shirt Day, when we remember residential school survivors and their families, and it also marks the first time Canada will recognize National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as a statutory holiday.

To honour the occasion, Tim Hortons will offer a limited-edition fundraising doughnut from Sept. 30 through Oct. 6 at locations, “across Canada, including in the Northwest Territories,” according to a spokesperson.

All proceeds from the sale of the orange-sprinkled doughnuts will support Indigenous organizations that help residential school survivors, states a Sept. 27 news release.

The fundraising campaign was developed by a group of Indigenous Tim Hortons restaurant owners and Indigenous leaders in response to the discovery of 215 children buried on the grounds of a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C. in June.

Among them was Shane Gottfriedson, former Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation chief and former B.C. regional chief for the Assembly of First Nations.

Gottfriedson also co-owns a Tim Hortons restaurant located a short distance from the former Kamloops residential school.

“We’re proud that Tim Hortons owners across Canada are joining us in this initiative that will raise some important funds and awareness for two organizations that do crucial work to help support survivors of the residential school system,” he stated.

Landon Miller, another Tim Hortons owner who worked on the campaign, created his own orange doughnut fundraiser soon after the discovery in Kamloops.

“We were able to quickly raise over $5,000 in our individual campaign and I’m excited for this idea to go national, and grateful for the support of Tim Hortons owners and guests across Canada,” stated Miller.

Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba members Sharon and Brian Bruyere also worked on the fundraiser.

“Brian and I are both survivors of the residential school system and we are proud that Tim Hortons owners across Canada are joining this important initiative that will bring awareness to the efforts around truth and reconciliation,” stated Sharon Bruyere. “We consulted with our community as we prepared to launch this campaign and we are looking forward to having Tim Hortons show its support for these two important Indigenous organizations and residential school survivors.”

The fundraiser will benefit both the Orange Shirt Society and the Indian Residential School Survivors Society, which has been forced to adopt “virtual one-on-one supports – including a 24-hour crisis line – during the pandemic,” stated the society’s executive director Angela White.

“This has allowed us to ensure we reach as many former students of Indian residential schools as we can across Canada. We never turn anyone away; it takes courage to extend a hand for help and we intend to be there when they do,” she continued.

The release notes more than 150,000 Indigenous children – First Nations, Inuit and Métis – were forced to attend residential school and the idea for Orange Shirt Day comes from Phyllis Webstad, who was stripped of her clothes, including her orange shirt, on her first day.

Webstad would go on to found the Orange Shirt Society, and the Every Child Matters movement.

“The truth and legacy of the residential school system are not only Indigenous history, they are Canadian history, that every Canadian should learn and know about. I’m humbled and honoured that my story is a vehicle for change across Canada,” stated Webstad.

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The special edition orange sprinkle doughtnuts will be on sale for a week starting Sept. 30. Photo courtesy of Tim Hortons