A comfort food pairing like no other that was offered up free last week as a big “thank you” put smiles on the faces of many local first responders, including police, firefighters and paramedics.
If you guessed that pairing to be coffee and doughnuts, you are correct!
The person behind the symbolic gesture of gratitude to those fighting on the frontline during the COVID-19 pandemic is longtime Newmarket resident and Tim Hortons franchise owner Jim Alexander.
The owner of eight Tim Hortons shops brought the corporate coffee truck to Newmarket twice this month and served between 300 to 400 coffees and doughnuts to first responders, as well as to local long-term care and hospice residents.
In addition, Southlake Regional Health Centre employees for the month of April are treated to unlimited hot beverages and sweet treats whenever they show their workplace identification at a participating Tim Hortons location. So far, about 1,000 free goodies have been ordered up.
“It’s been a feel good thing in a bad, bad time, so hopefully it just helps the first responders and the Southlake employees, as well, and makes them all realize that what they’re doing is so appreciated,” Alexander said.
As someone who has been an active volunteer for many local organizations, Alexander said, “It’s great to be able to be a part of the community that we live in and that’s really kind of the motto we’re trying to follow”.
Like many local restaurants, Alexander’s coffee shops have been scaled back to drive-throughs and take-out options. Sales have also taken a significant hit, he said.
“We’ve been able to keep the majority of the restaurants open for business, but we’ve had to scale back on the operation,” said Alexander.
“I want to give a personal shout-out to our staff who, through all of this, are coming to work and they are in direct contact with the communities, so they are the ones who deserve the praise, they are the ones in the drive-through windows serving the coffee every day, and they feel good about the efforts to give back to the community that we’re doing,” Alexander said. “It’s really for them that we’re doing this, as well as for the recipients, but I know our staff feel good about being able to help out at this time, too.”
Thousands of essential workers across the country and in hundreds of cities and towns have been treated to free coffee and doughnuts by local Tim Hortons franchisees during the pandemic.
