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Dairy Queen’s Miracle Treat Day returns to Orangeville

August 6, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By Joshua Drakes, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Orangeville residents can enjoy a Blizzard while supporting children’s health care when Miracle Treat Day returns to the local Dairy Queen on Aug. 13.

The annual fundraiser sees Dairy Queen restaurants across Canada raise money for their local Children’s Miracle Network hospital.

For Orangeville Dairy Queen owner John Lockyer, Miracle Treat Day has become a huge annual event for the restaurant.

“It’s a massive event in our calendar, and it gets everybody going,” he said. “We call it Dairy Queen Christmas. Our team really looks forward to it. We can move close to 4,000 blizzards that day alone.”

The national partnership between Dairy Queen Canada and Children’s Miracle Network hospitals began 42 years ago and has raised more than $58 million for children’s health care across the country.

The need remains significant, with Canada’s children’s hospitals seeing roughly 3 million patient visits each year.

In Orangeville, proceeds are directed to the SickKids Foundation.

Lockyer said that while every participating Dairy Queen contributes to the campaign, the Orangeville location is among a select number of stores that go a step further.

“In our little restaurant here in Orangeville, we’ve chosen to give the entire price of each Blizzard to SickKids,” he said. “We donate the entire amount, so if the Blizzard’s $5.99, we will donate $5.99.”

Other Dairy Queens typically donate the cost of the Blizzard minus the costs associated with making it.

The Orangeville location has participated in the campaign for 24 years, raising more than $1 million for SickKids in that time.

Last year alone, the restaurant contributed approximately $85,000 through Miracle Treat Day Blizzard sales, while another $50,000 is raised annually through year-round customer roundup donations.

The Orangeville location was also one of the first Dairy Queen restaurants in Canada to make roundup donations available every day of the year, rather than as a limited-time campaign. Lockyer said it was one way the restaurant tries to stay involved and engaged with the community while also supporting a good cause.

“We used to do it just for a month, and then we thought, why don’t we just do it every day,” he said. “Just have it [as] part of our culture. It’s a very easy way to help. Of course, not everyone can donate or is in a position to, and that’s absolutely fine. We might catch them next time.”

Preparation for Miracle Treat Day begins well before Aug. 13, with local businesses purchasing hundreds of free Blizzard coupons for employees and customers. On the day itself, the restaurant expects to serve thousands of Blizzards, making it one of the busiest Dairy Queen locations in the country.

Since 2022, Lockyer’s location has been the highest fundraising Dairy Queen in Canada for Children’s Miracle Network, a success he attributes to the generosity of local residents, businesses and his staff.

He said the event represents the power of community support and expressed the restaurant’s gratitude to the Orangeville community and its business partners.

“We’ve been very lucky,” Lockyer said. “It’s all about the relationships that you have with customers, with staff and with the local businesses who support us every single year on this campaign. It’s the power of community. We try to sponsor as much as we can, whether it be sports, whether it be theatre, et cetera. And people give back. We’re all in it together, and we help each other.”

Residents are encouraged to stop by on Aug. 13, try one of Dairy Queen’s classic or seasonal Blizzard flavours and know that every dollar spent on their frozen treat at the Orangeville location will go directly toward helping SickKids continue providing specialized care for children.

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