Dr. Lincoln Alexander and the Honourable Jane Stewart on hand to officially kick off the festivities

(ST. GEORGE, ON) - June 8, 2002 - The Tim Horton Children's Foundation celebrated the opening of its sixth camp today, Tim Horton Onondaga Farms, in St. George, Ontario. Special guests in attendance included the Honourable Jane Stewart, M.P. for Brant and Minister of Human Resources, former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Dr. Lincoln M. Alexander and Canadian music veteran Jim Cuddy.

Special guests help to kick off the grand opening of Tim Horton Onondaga Farms: (from left to right) Gil Henderson, who donated the land on which the camp is built; Ron Joyce, Tim Hortons Co-Founder and Chairman of the Tim Horton Children's Foundation; Jane Stewart, Minister of Human Resources; and Lincoln Alexander, former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.

Guests, staff, and local residents were treated to an array of activities throughout the day including tours of the camp, a ribbon cutting ceremony, a fly-by featuring a WWII Lancaster Bomber, displays of local artisans, musical entertainment and a food festival. Evening events included a children's outdoor film festival, barn dance and a live performance by the Jim Cuddy Band.

Situated on 400 acres of rolling hills and wetlands, Tim Horton Onondaga Farms will offer over 500 resident campers an unbelievable camping experience focusing on outdoor education, adventure programming, agriculture, creative arts, water sports and outdoor recreation. In addition, the Foundation will headquarter its unique Youth Tracking program at this new camp. This program invites 370 previous summer camp participants between the ages of 13 and 18 back to camp for further leadership and life skills development. After completing up to seven years in this program, participants may be eligible for scholarships to attend college or university.

"Tim Horton Onondaga Farms promises to be our most unique camp to date," said Ron Joyce, Chairman of the Tim Horton Children's Foundation and Co-founder of Tim Hortons. "In addition to the 800 summer resident campers, it will also be available to schools and community groups year-round. It even features an Eco-Centre that will help educate the campers, school children and youth groups on farming and the environment. We are truly excited about the opening of Tim Horton Onondaga Farms."

The Eco-Centre and Observatory overlook the new camp.

On June 24th, the Foundation will welcome the first group of campers to Onondaga Farms. This year over 9,000 children, whose families would not otherwise be able to afford it, will attend one of six Tim Horton Children's Foundation Camps - all-expenses paid. These children are selected from within the communities of Tim Hortons stores.

Ron Joyce founded the Tim Horton Children's Foundation in 1974 in honor of his friend and hockey legend, Tim Horton. The Tim Horton Memorial Camp opened in 1975 in Parry Sound, Ontario. Since then, camps have opened in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia (1988), Kananaskis, Alberta (1991), Quyon, Quebec (1994) and Campbellsville, Kentucky (2001).

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