An initiative that would see a new skateboard park built in Yorkton is the lone Saskatchewan project in the semifinal round of the Aviva Community Fund Contest.
Dave Nussbaumer of Farrell Agencies in Yorkton explained Aviva, an insurance company, distributes $1 million to projects across Canada each year. A portion of the funding goes to applications made through agents like Farrell Agencies, he added.
"We want to see Saskatchewan benefit from the contest, and to achieve that we need the support of people from across the province," he said.
Nussbaumer said through Farrell Agencies they have applied for $150,000 in the Broker Supported Category.
The process for being one of the projects to get funding includes an online voting process, said Nussbaumer, adding they have already successfully made it through the opening round of voting: the only project in Saskatchewan to advance.
A second round of voting opens Dec. 5 and runs through to Dec. 15.
"We need people to go online to vote," said Nussbaumer. "We need this to be a Saskatchewan project, with wide-ranging support."
This round of voting will pare the list of applicants down to 30.
"Then it goes to a panel of judges for the final decisions," said Nussbaumer. The funding recipients will be announced Jan. 25, 2012.
People can vote at www.avivacommunityfund.org
Yorkton skateboarder Tucker Chornomud said a modern facility is something local youth have wanted for some time.
"It means everything in skateboarding," he said, adding local 'boarders are limited in how far they can progress in the sport based on facility limitations.
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