Orillia business owners giving back to local charities

The owners of a bakery in Orillia are showing a level of selflessness by giving back to various charities in a unique way.

Nicole Hepinstall and Tyson Renshaw opened Coco's Cookies this time last year. Since opening, they have been donating their tips to a local charity, selecting a new beneficiary every month.

"It's surreal to think we can do this," Hepinstall tells CTV News. "We feel very honoured to have this platform to be able to give back to the community and help a lot of people in need that we actually didn't know were in need until we started doing this."

Over their year in operations, they have donated approximately $6,000 to local groups, benefiting a different one for each of the 12 months they've been open.

"It's a community that keeps a roof over our heads," Renshaw says. "We don't do it for our own sake; we do it because we want to."

This month they are taking things one step further by accepting physical donations from the public for feminine hygiene products, which will be provided to this month's charity of choice: The Sharing Place.

Anyone who donates will be entered into a draw to win a $ 100' shop local' prize package.

The pair's overall goal is to help bring more awareness to various local charities.

"I think that there's a lot of these organizations in the community that people don't know about, and there's a lot of people in need in our community that people are unaware of, so we just want to bring more attention to them and hopefully get more donations," says Hepinstall.

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