A St. Albert arena project and a program for at-risk youth are in the running for a piece of the Aviva Community Fund.
The fund helps Canadians create "positive changes" for their community and has provided more than $4.5 million in funding for 91 charities and community groups in the past six years.
Funds are provided to numerous organizations, with different amounts allocated to the winning groups. Winners are selected based on how many votes are cast for each project. The total amount of money available for distribution is $1 million.
Organizers of both St. Albert groups hope that residents and supporters will cast their vote for the projects today, the last day of the competition.
Arena funds
The St. Albert Minor Hockey Association is once again looking for funding to upgrade the Akinsdale-Kinex twin arenas. In March, the association made the top 16 during the annual Kraft Hockeyville contest, earning $25,000.
Those funds have now been used to pay for the preliminary planning for new workout rooms in the arena, said Joe Becigneul, referee in chief with the association.
The workout rooms will be used to create rooms for players to warm up before the game, he said. But the association requires anywhere from $70,000 to $100,000 to complete the renovations at the back of the rink, where the rooms will be located.
Becigneul is hoping that funds from the Aviva Community Fund will help move them closer to their goal.
"You want to get as many votes as possible," he said. "We have to get some people on their computers voting."
Youth program
The Wilderness Youth Challenge Program takes at-risk youth into the wild for 10 days every year. There, the St. Albert-based program teaches them how to survive for six days, before the youth spend four days camping solo.
The intent is to provide the youth with better decision-making skills and prevent them from relapsing into crime, drug abuse or anti-social behaviour, said executive director Lee Eskdale.
"There is an element of self-esteem that comes out of that (trip) and more importantly positive decision making because they are fully liable for every consequence that comes out of their decisions," he said.
"We find that about half of our youth are not relapsing within a year."
The program is free and runs solely on donations, he added.
Funds raised through the Aviva Community Fund will support individual youth participating in the program. Eskdale said they are hoping to raise about $5,000, which would fund the trip for three youth.
To cast a vote for the organizations go to avivacommunityfund.org and search for St. Albert. The last day to cast a vote for either organization is Saturday, Oct. 11.
You can learn more about each organization at www.wycp.org and www.samha.ab.ca.
