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Miracle Treat Day on August 11 funds Children’s Miracle Network

July 28, 2016   ·   0 Comments

On Thursday, August 11, buying a Blizzard Treat will do much more than cool you off. Throughout the entire day, the purchase of these frozen treats will generate donations towards the Children’s Miracle Network Hospital.

Miracle Treat Day is a nationwide, annual event, created to benefit Children’s Miracle Network member Hospitals across Canada, and over the years has generated a large amount of funding for the program.

For every Blizzard sold, the proceeds are provided to the non-profit organization. One of the largest benefits of this fundraiser is that all of the funds raised stay within the community, so the hospitals can use the money where it is needed the most.

This year marks the 14th year the fundraiser has been run, and the event has seen a consistent increase in the amount raised annually. Last year, Miracle Treat Day saw over $5 million donated to member hospitals across North America. Since its inception, the fundraiser has brought in more than $115 million in proceeds to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, 14 of which are located in Canada.

Locally, Miracle Treat Day has been one of the most popular annual fundraisers in the area, seeing hundreds of volunteers consisting of DQ employees, franchise owners, executives, local dignitaries, and members of the public, assist in fielding the crowds throughout the day at Orangeville Dairy Queen.

Last year, Mike Kirk, the store’s Manager, shared with the Citizen why our local franchise takes such pride in participating each year.

“Sick Kids Hospital does such a great job; they do such a great thing for children and families. Everybody has either been affected by or knows somebody who has been treated at Sick Kids, so this touches all of us.”

Just over a week ago, local franchise owner John Lockyer was announced as the recipient of one of the top awards for Sick Kid’s fundraising. Mr. Lockyer owns both the Orangeville Dairy Queen location as well as one in Tottenham. Between the two stores, $70,000 was raised last year alone for Miracle Treat Day.

“We have been blown away by how generous people are, both here in Orangeville and in Tottenham,” said Mr. Lockyer in an interview Tuesday afternoon. “It’s fantastic to see the amount of people who come by to support, both by purchasing Blizzards or through being community volunteers for the day.”

In the 14 years that Orangeville Dairy Queen has participated in Miracle Treat Day, the store has raised $420,000 to go towards Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto.

Mr. Lockyer added that the staff like to refer to Miracle Treat Day as “Dairy Queen Christmas” because it’s something the entire staff not only looks forward to, but loves to participate in it.

For the 2016 fundraiser, Orangeville Mayor Jeremy Williams as well as Dufferin-Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones have been invited to participate.

Stay tuned in next week’s issue of the Citizen for a full feature on the role of Orangeville Dairy Queen in Miracle Treat Day, and for what you can expect at this year’s event.

For more information visit www.miracletreatday.ca or childrensmiraclenetwork.ca.

With files from Jasen Obermeyer

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