Tim Hortons Camp Day: Real Stories. Real Campers. Real Impact.

Tim Hortons Camp Day has grown to become one of the most important and cherished days on the Tim Hortons calendar, with all restaurant owners, team members and corporate staff dedicated to making each year’s campaign more impactful than the last. Read more from current and former campers about how Tims Camps have impacted their lives and helped them carve a path towards the future they want, and deserve.

Micheal

After spending four summers at Tims Camps, Micheal  was in awe of how much he had grown as an individual. Once an incredibly shy kid who lacked confidence and leadership skills, he now credits his fellow campers and counselors throughout his time at camp for helping him become his best, most authentic self.

Micheal, an aspiring elementary teacher finishing his second year at the University of Alberta, was inspired by the growth opportunities he had as a youth at Tims Camps and is looking to pay it forward in any way possible.

How did your experience at Tims Camps help you grow as an individual?

My experience at Tims Camps helped get me to where I am today. Camp, and the people I spent my summers with, helped push me out of my comfort zone to the point where I let go of any social anxiety I used to hold onto and became a leader.

Every summer I challenged myself to grow and push my personal boundaries and I credit that to being the person I am today, because of the once-in-a-lifetime experience of being at Tims Camps.

Camp also taught me to be present, to live in the now, to forget what has happened in the past and not worry about the future. It was about having fun, learning to be a kid again and appreciating special moments like backpacking for the first time ever, group meals, the hard but rewarding canoe trips, and hikes that I still love to go on to this day!

What’s one thing you learned from Tims Camps that you still think about today?

That everything is a teachable moment. Everything we did at camp had a lesson associated with it, with an outcome that was different for everyone. Everyone was and is going through different stages in their life and the support and encouragement we received from our counselors and from each other was extremely special.  And I can’t wait to share these learning experiences with youth in the future – it’s what inspired me to study education at school. I want to help youth in the way Tims Camps helped me and my peers find ourselves.

What is one of your favourite memories from Tims Camps?

The food! Every year I looked forward to the amazing meals we were served every day. I also looked forward every summer to our final meal – not only because it was delicious, but because together we felt like a family reflecting on the amazing experiences we had shared together over our time at camp. Even though we were saying goodbye to each other, there was a sense of comfort and happiness we all shared together.

Ethen

Heading into his final year of programming at Tims Camps, Ethen couldn’t be more excited to be going back to the first camp location where he kicked off his journey - Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia.

Over the past four years, Ethen has experienced things he never thought imaginable. He was   the first in his family to leave the province of Nova Scotia, and was also the first of his family to ever set foot in a plane. And now, after travelling to Ontario for one summer and two years of Tims eCamp, Ethen is preparing for his final Tims Camps summer back in Tamamagouche.

His time at Tims Camps has encouraged Ethen to grow as an individual. Once a shy kid with social anxiety who only kept to himself at school, Ethen is now someone who dreams of being on Broadway sharing his love for musicals and acting with the rest of the world – something he only came to learn to love through a special experience at camp.

How did your experience at Tims Camps help you grow as an individual?

As someone who was extremely shy as a young kid, I didn’t really make an effort to make friends at or outside of school. I usually stuck to myself or hung close by to my parents. Needless to say, my first summer at Tims Camps was eye opening. I didn’t talk to anyone for the first few days, but I quickly realized how much I was missing out on by not engaging with others. In fact, it was my first summer at camp when I realized just how much I love the feeling of performing in front of a crowd. During our final campfire talent show, I got the courage to have one line during our cabin skit, and ever since then I have wanted to be on stage.

My love for acting and musicals grew, as did my self-confidence. Now, I’ve been in over 10 musicals and even did my first play last year! This all wouldn’t have happened if I had not been motivated by my counselors and my cabin mates, who believed in me and encouraged me to break out of my shell. Now my goal is to one day head to Broadway to fulfil my dream of performing in front of a New York crowd.

What is one of your favourite memories from Tims Camp?

Being the first in my family to ever leave Nova Scotia and to get on a plane. It was an incredibly scary but thrilling opportunity and one that I owe all credit to Tims Camps. Tims Camps has given me so many unique and once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, but leaving home for the first time is definitely one I’ll never forget. It also has made me so curious about travelling across Canada and even internationally – I’d love to go to Europe one day.

Maggie

Once a shy, introverted kid, Maggie never imagined she was destined for leadership – until she went to Tims Camps. Now, a graduate of Tims Camps, a former student council president and a current Youth Advisory Council member for Tims Camps, Maggie is aspiring to head back to Camp next summer as a counselor to help change the lives of the next generation of Tims campers.

Throughout her four years attending four of the seven Tims Camps across Canada and the United States, Maggie was thrust into a self-discovery journey - one that led her to realize her passion for leadership and her motivation to help change the lives of others for the better.

How did your experience at Tims Camps help you grow as an individual?

I have no words for the everlasting impact that Tims Camps has left on my life. Emotionally, mentally, and physically, the camps changed my life for the better and have inspired me to do the same for youth in my community and the next generation of Tims campers.

I was once an extremely shy kid who lived my life on the sidelines, but Tims Camps gave me the confidence, courage, and passion to get out there, push myself, and grow as an individual.

What inspired you to join the Tims Camps Youth Advisory Council (YAC)?

I credit who I am today to my counselors and my fellow campers, so when I found out about the opportunity to join the Youth Advisory Council to weigh in on camp activities and experiences, I jumped on it immediately. Being able to give my opinion and advice on how to make Tims Camps even more impactful and memorable has been so fulfilling because I know just how important each moment spent at camp is and how it can help transform someone’s life forever. I want to pay it forward; I want others to experience similar life lessons I learned at camp and joining the YAC is a direct way I can impact the lives of campers for the better.

What does Camp Day mean to you?

It’s amazing to me just how involved everyone is on Camp Day. Being on the YAC this year, I’ve had the opportunity to reiterate the impact Tims Camps has had on me to people across the Tims organization as well as provide input on the Tims marketing campaign for Camp Day. I never realized just how much of a group effort Camp Day was, from head office to former and current campers, to restaurant owners across the country, it’s truly remarkable just how much one day can help change the lives of so many people each year. Buying a coffee can help change a life, just as it did mine, so I will forever cherish and appreciate the importance of Camp Day.

Sunita

After spending five years as a camper, Sunita is now in her fifth year as a Tims Camps counselor. After seeing first-hand just how impactful 10 days at Tims Camps each summer can be, when the opportunity to become a counselor came up, she went for it immediately.

Sunita constantly reflects on her time as a counselor and considers it as one of the most rewarding experiences she’s ever had. Her camp name ’Ember’ was inspired after she returned to camp to impart life-changing experiences on the next generation and help youth ignite their passions.

How did your experience at Tims Camp help you grow as an individual?

Camp has impacted me in more ways than one. Not only when I was younger as a camper, but continuously as a counselor too. Tims Camps has made me a more confident and courageous person and continues to help me grow each summer I return. You’re never not learning or developing as an individual, so I wouldn’t be the person I am today, or who I will become, without the support of everyone at Tims Camps.

What inspired you to become a Tims Camp counselor?

Camp is a huge catalyst for change, and I am so lucky that youth involved in Tims Camps today get to experience the same life-changing opportunities I did when I was younger.

Because I know just how important Tims Camps can be to campers, being a counselor is one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had. I use what I learned from my experiences at camp to help others unlock their potential in the same way. Every single camper that walks through our doors has the potential to have a life-changing experience and there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing than helping someone achieve their goals and find themselves.

What was one of your most memorable experiences at Tims Camps?

An experience that was critical in developing my emotional strength and resiliency was a canoe trip our cabin went on in my third summer at camp, which included a challenging 2.5-kilometre portage. During the portage, it was pouring rain, we were knee deep in mud with a canoe over our head trying to get to our next campsite. At the time, it was one of the most physically challenging things I’ve ever experienced but I learned resiliency and both emotional and mental strength tactics to get me through to the other side. I always look back whenever I’m dealing with a difficult situation and think to myself, if I can get through that portage, I can get through anything

Ana

Growing up, Ana was always shy and never wanted to stand out in a crowd, but over the years at Tims Camps, Ana learned to trust her instincts, stay positive in tough times and encourage others to tell their stories about how their past has helped shape their lives. Ana’s time at Tims Camps helped her become who she is today and she has never looked back.

How did your experience at Tims Camps help you grow as an individual?

My experience at Tims Camps has allowed me to become the person I am today. It completely transformed me from being extremely shy to someone who is super social.

I had the chance to meet wonderful people who made it possible for me to be able to work on myself, to become a better person with confidence.

What is one of your favourite memories from Tims Camp?

My cabin went camping together in Quyon, Quebec and we all had amazing chemistry that allowed us to communicate effectively with each other and develop our relationships in a more meaningful way. We opened up about our lives at home and what it was like growing up in different communities, all with different backgrounds. The stories we told each other helped us understand where everyone had come from and how their experiences shaped them as an individual. It brought us all extremely close together and despite having only known each other for ten days, it felt like we had been friends for a lifetime.

What’s one thing you learned from Tims Camps that you still think about today?

Something that has stuck with me to this day is learning how to trust myself and how important it is to be positive. There are times when I’ve been in difficult situations in my life but whenever I find myself stressed or unsure, I think back to my experiences at camp and just how much I was encouraged to believe in myself to know my limits and trust them.

Visit timscamps.com to read more about the campers’ stories and to learn more about the Tim Hortons Foundation Camps.