As the days get shorter and the mercury dips, curling up in front of the TV, watching movies and gorging on comfort food starts to become more and more appealing, but Jasperite Joe Urie is once again asking locals to spend the month of December getting active while raising funds for charity.
Urie started the December Project three years ago to encourage locals to get off the couch for at least 30 minutes a day and share photos of their winter adventures.
The group quickly grew to more than 250 members.
鈥淚 know not everyone has a Facebook account or likes to post pictures, but for some people it has been very encouraging,鈥� Urie said. 鈥淯sually when people post a picture, people will leave positive comments which really encourages some to keep going with their activities.鈥�
As for the fundraising aspect of the project, Urie asks participants for a $20 registration fee and other donations. All the money is then given to worthy causes within the community.
Last year鈥檚 project raised more than $4,000, which was equally split between the Community Caring Fund and the community鈥檚 efforts to bring two Syrian refugee families to Jasper.
鈥淥riginally it was me who chose the charity, but my idea this year was since this is a community driven initiative then it should be the community that decides what charity they would like to give to,鈥� Urie said.
He recently posted on the project鈥檚 Facebook page, looking for suggestions. And while nothing has been finalized he has seen several requests for the money to go towards the construction of the new bike and skate parks, which were both approved in August.
鈥淪o far, it鈥檚 really leaning toward the bike and skate parks and that makes perfect sense to me,鈥� Urie said.
As the project start date approaches, Urie said he would like to see more men participate this year.
鈥淚鈥檇 say about 80 per cent of the project鈥檚 participants are women and that鈥檚 great and definitely not surprising,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t would just be nice to see more men getting out there and being active.鈥�
Urie said he would also like to see more businesses getting involved, citing Rene Vena of Cafe Mondo as an example of what he hopes to see more of this year.
For last year鈥檚 project, Vena put out a challenge, inviting community members to join her at the gym for a spin session and offered those who showed up a chance to purchase a $5 raffle ticket for a lamb dinner to feed eight people. The contest ran throughout the whole month of December, with people posting photos of their spin sessions and rushing to the cafe to buy a ticket. The contest ultimately pulled in an additional $175 for the December Project.
鈥淚t鈥檚 creative, it motivates people and it has the possibility of drumming up a bit of local business,鈥� Urie said. 鈥淚 mean if you鈥檙e in Cafe Mondo filling out a ticket then you also might just buy a coffee or something like that.鈥�
Registration forms and donation collection jars will soon be placed at several local businesses, including the Bear鈥檚 Paw Bakery and The Other Paw Bakery.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know just yet where the other ones will be, but I鈥檓 thinking other coffee shops in town,鈥� Urie said.
For more information or to suggest worthy causes for the project to donate to, head to the December Project Facebook page.
Kayla Byrne [email protected]
