Thousands of smiles were served up by the three Tim Hortons at the beginning of May in support of a Swift Current non-profit organization.

A record-setting $21,864 was raised for Kidsport Swift Current from the sales of chocolate chip cookies topped with blue and pink icing. With the new price of $1.50 per cookie, that means 14,576 were ordered from May 1 to May 7.

Kevin Patenaude, a board member for Kidsport Swift Current, said he's thrilled with the support they receive year after year for their largest annual fundraiser.

"From our perspective on Kidsport, it's the dollars we need to be able to fund all the kid's activities," he said. "I've been on the board for more than 20 years and to this day we've never had to say no to a kid. It's just the way the community helps us out and supports programs like this."

The number of applications from kids seeking funding nearly doubled from 54 in 2021 to 99 last year in Swift Current. And the dollars handed out jumped from $16,790 to $26,875.

"We've definitely seen a major increase," he said. "We've increased the amount of funding we do per kid to help out with the rising costs. By these types of fundraisers, that's really the difference the community is helping us with is allowing us to give the kids a little more just because we all know they need it."

Even with the significant rise in families/children using the non-profit, Patenaude and other board members fear some kids are still being left behind.

"Our biggest fear is that there still are those families that don't know what Kidsport is and how it works... It's 100 per cent confidential," he said. "We just want those families that are struggling to come. We just want kids to play sports because it's extremely important."