The annual Dairy Queen Miracle Treat Day returns on Aug. 13, with Prince Albert locations joining the nationwide fundraiser by donating all proceeds made from Blizzard treats to the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Foundation.
Jada Kook, community engagement manager at the foundation, explained that all donations support local initiatives.
“So those funds are staying right here in Saskatchewan, and they will support the 644 communities that Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital supports each year,” she said. “They’re helping fund things like specialized pediatric and maternal equipment within the walls of the hospital, but also innovative research for pediatric care and vital programming that’s really helping keep Saskatchewan kids and families.”
Dairy Queen’s Miracle Treat Day is an annual national fundraiser where 100 per cent of the net proceeds of every Blizzard Treat sold goes to a local hospital.
Last year’s fundraiser raised over $8,900 in Prince Albert and over $282,000 in the entirety of Saskatchewan in one day.
“Fundraisers like this go to a fund where we can help support the most direct needs or the most pressing needs of the hospital and actually pediatric care across the province. Really just funding the most top priority needs for pediatric care in the hospital.” said Kook.
For over 2 decades, DQ’s Miracle Treat Day has continued to serve and raise money for communities.
“We see a ton of community support on Miracle Treat Day in many different forms.
So of course the DQ franchisees and their team members come together for one of their busiest days of the year to get blizzards pre-made. We see community corporate partners who make pre orders for their office so that they’re supplying blizzards to their whole office. And those can be pre ordered and then the funds will all come back to Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Foundation. So we’ll see in the rural communities, the community coming out to volunteer ahead of time and again, pre making those blizzards so they’re ready to go,” said Kook.
Last year’s fundraiser has helped support priority needs such as equipment and programming, one of which is a program called ‘Beads of Courage.’
“So kids, when they start their healthcare journey, get a strand of beads with their name on it. And for every procedure, every needle poke, every visit that a child has, they grow their beads. And you know, some kids have over 60ft of beads and this is a way for them to tell their story and feel empowered by their journey,” she said.
Kook added that she has seen the event grow immensely over the years.
“Every year, honestly, we just want to beat that number from the year before. So this year we hope we can beat 282,000, which is a lot in one day,” she said. “We’ve seen some of the rural communities really unite over this fundraiser. Getting their surrounding towns involved, getting their schools involved, getting their corporate partners. That’s really just like what we like to see.”
The Dairy Queen Miracle Treat Day will be held on Aug. 13 at participating Dairy Queen locations and 100 per cent of proceeds from Blizzard Treats will go towards the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Foundation.
“From everyone at Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital foundation and the families that use the hospital. We had over 83,000 visits last year. We just thank everybody in the community who comes out and supports dq Miracle Treat Day. It’s a great fundraiser,” said Kook.
