After a Canada-wide call out for the Tim Hortons design-a-donut contest for the Special Olympics Global Day of Inclusion on July 21, three finalists were chosen out of 84 submissions received from Special Olympics athletes across the country.
Did you know that all three finalists selected represent Special Olympics Alberta! That’s right - Kristina Hansen (Airdrie), Laurie Colley (Red Deer), and eventual winner Savannah Lussier (Grande Prairie) are all Special Olympics Alberta athletes!
All three entered unique and tasty looking submissions and while there could only be one winner, we are proud of all three ladies!
“Let me win, but if I cannot win. Let me be brave in the attempt.” – Special Olympics athlete oath.
Laurie Colley is a 42-year-old 5-pin bowler for Special Olympics Alberta – Red Deer who has been hitting the lanes with SOA for nearly 13 years. Her donut design was an extremely creative take on the classic long john. Colley’s twist featured a layer of vanilla icing with sprinkles on both ends of the donut, but none in the middle! The donut was aesthetically beautiful and definitely worthy of a top-3 selection.
Airdrie’s own, Kristina Hansen is the longest tenured Special Olympics Alberta athlete of the three at 18 years. The 31-year-old basketball player has only been shooting hoops for five years, but she has already made Team Alberta and will compete at the 2018 Special Olympics Canada Summer Games in less than two weeks.
“I'm excited to compete in a team sport for the first time as well as this being my first summer National Games. I'm looking forward to the opening ceremonies,” said Hansen on competing in Antigonish.
Hansen’s design featured a dynamic re-imagination of the always popular double chocolate donut. She mixed up the original by swapping the chocolate glaze for vanilla and boldly added Special Olympics red sprinkles to represent our movement.
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The winning donut was crafted by 14-year-old Savannah Lussier, who took the cruller to the next level. Lussier is a 5-pin bowler who hails from Grande Prairie and has been rolling strikes with Special Olympics for nearly four years now. Her cruller, which will available for sale on July 21 only, is covered in chocolate fondant and topped with a stunning combination of red and white sprinkles to represent the colours of Special Olympics.
Lussier appeared on TSN with Jay and Dan in a video that features the three of them making the donuts and Lussier sharing about her Special Olympics experiences.
The donut will be available for sale on July 21 with proceeds going to Special Olympics programs across the country, so make your way to your local Tim Hortons location to pick up a cruller or 12 and support Special Olympics athletes!
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Thank you to everyone who made their way to Tim Hortons on July 21 to eat one of the 78,000 Special Olympics donuts purchased on the Global Day of Inclusion. $120,000 was raised for Special Olympics programs across Canada!
Thank you Tim Hortons for their incredible support and dedication to enriching the lives of Special Olympics athletes.