Tim Hortons delivered thanks in the form of Timbits, coffee and sandwiches to Columbia Shuswap Regional District firefighters, who have been working for many weeks on the Bush Creek East Wildfire.
The Tim Hortons Coffee Truck, which visits communities all over Canada, stopped at Shuswap Firehall #2 and the Celista Fire Department on Tuesday, Sept. 19 providing firefighters in South and North Shuswap fire departments with food and appreciation.
“It was fantastic,” says CSRD Deputy Fire Chief Sean Coubrough, who expressed his pride to firefighters and their families, with 25 in attendance in South Shuswap and 60 in Celista.
“The crew and their families are very thankful to Tims for coming out to thank Shuswap firefighters for their efforts,” said Ty Barrett, deputy chief for the Shuswap Fire Department.
“Awesome,” was the response shared by Celista Fire Chief Roy Phillips.
“It gave fire departments in the North Shuswap an opportunity to share stories and spend time together in a less stressful environment than we’ve had for more than a month,” he says.
Coubrough said the event was also attended by CSRD Fire Department chaplains Steve Janz and Rikk Keift, both of whom had visited firefighters on the frontlines.
Also in attendance were members of the Critical Incident Stress Management Team, who provide mental health support to CSRD Fire Department members.
Coubrough thanked firefighters for their dedication to their communities.
“I am deeply proud of them; they have my deepest respect,” he says. “CSRD will be there through the recovery process to make sure their needs are met.”
Kelly Moores, former owner of three Tim Hortons franchises in Salmon Arm, says one of the company’s marketing managers called him to ask how the truck could best be utilized in the Shuswap.
“We’ve tried to do these things for years at the local level and at head office,” he says, noting that, although he is retired, he continues to an active ambassador for the company.
As part of the Tims For Good marketing campaign, the coffee truck appears in places where natural disasters such as fires and floods occur.
“It goes to frontline workers who are going above and beyond the call of duty,” he says. “We try to help through food donations.”
The campaign originated during the pandemic when the truck was sent to hospitals, and seniors’ residences to help,” says Moores.
“In this particular instance, Tim Hortons had already been providing coffee and baked goods to evacuees from the North Shuswap and Sorrento and ESS (Emergency Social Services) workers who are volunteers right from the get-go,” he says.
Moores says the food truck, which has been operating for at least 10 years, has come to Salmon Arm on multiple occasions.
“To show how busy they are, the truck is coming from Prince George and then it’s doing two stops in the Shuswap then on to Kelowna for multiple events tomorrow because of the fires being down there,” he says.