Unity is one of six Saskatchewan communities to move into the final round of the in motion Community Pledge Challenge.
Voting for the community to earn the $10,000 grand prize in the Saskatchewan in motion promotion began Tuesday.
Other communities making it to the final round are Craven, Elbow, James Smith Cree Nation, Leader and Swift Current.
The winner of the $10,000 grand prize will be chosen through an online public vote. The winner will be announced Jan. 30 during the Saskatchewan in motion luncheon at the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) Conference in Regina.
According to Unity's Nicole Goldsworthy, director of Culture, Parks and Recreation, Unity was slightly in the lead after the first day of voting with 392 votes, but Elbow was close behind with 358.
Goldsworthy urges Unity supporters to vote everyday and provides the following instructions: go to www.jumpin.ca; click "Vote Now"; click on the community you want to vote for; log in using your profile name and password (or create a new account if you don't have an existing one); and click "Vote Now" beside the community.
She says one vote per user account will be allowed per day. Voting closes Jan. 29.
A total of 23 Saskatchewan communities registered and pledged to increase the physical activity of the kids in their communities. Of this group, 11 completed the process by providing a written or video submission that outlined how they would spend the prize money to help kids move more. A panel of judges scored each submission based on the number of pledges received and the strength of their submission. As a result of a tie in the scoring, Saskatchewan in motion put six communities through to the final round, rather than the planned five. During the challenge, individuals and families made more than 3,100 pledges to do just one thing to make physical activity the easy choice for the kids they care about.
The volunteer judges were pleased with the amount of time and work dedicated to the submissions and remarked on the display of strong, engaged, committed community involvement. According to one of the judges, "There is a lot of community spirit and connectedness. We are inspired by the forward-looking plans of these Saskatchewan communities that really want to work together to make sure the kids they care about get the required 60 minutes of daily physical activity they need each and every day."
The in motion Community Pledge Challenge is designed to get communities working together to make a positive difference and make physical activity the easy choice for our province's children and youth.
