At a time of year when most of us just want to laze around on the couch and gorge on cookies, turkey and other holiday treats, the December Project motivates and inspires locals to put that aside for at least 30 minutes a day and get out there and get moving.
For the third year in a row, a few dozen dedicated participants signed up at the beginning of December, posting pictures and tales of their daily activities through the project鈥檚 Facebook page.
鈥淚f you lived in a bigger community it would be hard to see the end results because there鈥檚 a bit of anonymity in bigger places, but here you can walk down the street and people will tell you 鈥榬ight on鈥� and 鈥榢eep it up鈥�,鈥� said December Project creator Joe Urie. 鈥淚t makes you feel good and I think that encourages people to want to stick with it for the rest of the year even without the accolades on Facebook.鈥�
While promoting healthy minds and bodies, the project also serves as a fundraiser for community initiatives. As of press time, Urie said he鈥檚 still collecting and counting funds, which will then be divvied up and donated to the Habitat for the Arts and the construction of a new skate park.
鈥淚n this town we鈥檙e so focused on sports and athleticism, but the arts are so important,鈥� Urie said. 鈥淎s far as the skate park, I expected to see more youth participating in the project if they鈥檙e the ones going to benefit from this.鈥�
Last year the project raised nearly $4,000, with half going to the Community Caring Fund and the other half to the community鈥檚 efforts to relocate two Syrian families to Jasper.
This year鈥檚 funds were collected through a $20 registration fee and various events and initiatives hosted by local groups and businesses including a scotch and stretch night at the Jasper Physiotherapy and Health Centre, a fat bike poker rally and a college level volleyball game held at Jasper Junior/ Senior High School.
鈥淓verybody involved did a great job, but I noticed a pattern with all these events. If you look at the entire month and what everybody did, the resounding overall power lies in the women of this community,鈥� Urie said. 鈥淭he events, the Facebook postings鈥攊t鈥檚 all women.
鈥淗istorically men take credit for everything, but it鈥檚 so apparent especially with this project how much women care and just how inspiring they truly are.鈥�
Urie added that he鈥檚 hoping to see more community involvement next year.
鈥淲e need more planning. It鈥檚 going to require more than just going live on the first of December,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t might take the month in advance to properly get organized and reach out to different community members.鈥�
While Urie described himself as the project鈥檚 鈥渕outhpiece,鈥� he said he would like to see the project鈥檚 organization grow beyond him.
鈥淧eople keep thanking me and I seem to get the credit, but that鈥檚 not fair,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e all a part of this. I want people to be impressed with themselves and impressed with others, and when you combine all that together then you鈥檙e impressed with the whole community.鈥�
Kayla Byrne
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