Strathmore DQ raises close to $9,000 during Miracle Treat Day
By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Photo Courtesy of Strathmore Dairy Queen
The Strathmore Dairy Queen hosted their annual Miracle Treat Day, Aug. 10, to raise money for the Children’s Hospital in Calgary.
Every Miracle Treat Day, all proceeds from blizzard sales at participating Dairy Queen locations are directed to the respective location’s local children’s hospital.
“It is a very fun and exciting day, and it is the day that the staff get to let loose, wear jeans, t-shirts, have fun and sell tons of blizzards,” said Rhonda Powell, manager of Strathmore’s local Dairy Queen. “I think we raised over $8,000 last year on this day, (and) we include balloons and stuff that we were selling this year, and include any funds that are donated in cash into the register today as well.”
By the end of the day, it was reported that Strathmore’s Dairy Queen was able to raise $8,872 for the Calgary Children’s hospital.
In addition to regular Dairy Queen Staff, members of the Strathmore RCMP, Strathmore Now, and Strathmore Times donated some of their time to help make blizzards over the course of the afternoon.
“I think for some of our staff, they were a little nervous because for a lot of them, it is their first year to do this. The rest of us are a little more seasoned, so we are all excited and all pumped up,” said Powell.
Strathmore’s local Dairy Queen was constructed in 1992, and has always participated in the greater organization’s Miracle Treat Day.
According to Powell, the occasion used to donate proceeds from sundae sales to children’s hospitals, before switching to donating revenue from blizzard sales in the early 2000’s.
“When they flipped it over to blizzards, we had no indication of what it was going to be; it was 31 degrees that day and we were run off our feet,” said Powell. “Several of our staff members were called back in to work that day, so it was interesting. After that, we decided to make sure we had more than enough staff to handle it. Blizzards seemed more favourable for people to buy than sundaes.”
Miracle Treat Day takes place every second Thursday of August for participating Dairy Queen locations.
Despite numbers being lowered and the restaurant being closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, pre-orders for blizzards and other delivery methods were employed to continue raising money for the Children’s Hospital.
Powell added the Children’s Hospital tends to pick one piece of equipment it would like to purchase every year, and allocate funds received from Dairy Queen locations specifically in order to purchase the device.
“We would just like to thank all of Strathmore and the surrounding area for your support for our annual Miracle Treat Day. Without your help we would not be able to accomplish what we did to support our local kids and the Southern Alberta Children’s Hospital,” she said. “We would like to offer a special thank you to John Watson from the Strathmore Times, Corinna Newel from More Country 104 and Corporal Wayne Goetz and Constable Amandet Saran from the Strathmore R.C.M.P. detachment who all came in and helped us make blizzards. With your help we raised $8,872. Thank you again from the management and staff of the Strathmore Dairy Queen.”