Strathmore to compete form $100,000 with ParticipACTION

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Throughout the month of June, Strathmore will be participating in the ParticipACTION Community Challenge with the goal of claiming a $100,000 prize to support local sport and physical activity initiatives.

The ParticipACTION Community Challenge is a nation-wide initiative that is designed to encourage everyone in Canada to get active in June. 

For folks who are interested in getting involved, the initiative has been designed to incorporate regular day-to-day activities, as well as specific efforts to be physically active. 

“The goal is to be the most active community in Canada … we would like the town to get involved and join us, download the app and get their teams going and log all of their minutes,” said Lisa Montgomery, manager of the Strathmore Motor Products Sports Centre. “As of June 1, any activity that you do, you can log … the Top 50 teams are moved into a final selection, and then from there, there are decisions made based on numbers of participants, organizations, and active minutes.”

Participants have the option to download the ParticipACTION app in order to participate, or they can record active minutes and activities on a form for the Town to submit on their behalf. 

As community wellness is one of town council’s strategic priorities, the ParticipACTION challenge fits well with, and supports this imperative. 

“Celebrating Parks and Recreation Month is part of our Strategy for Community Wellness. The ParticipACTION Community Challenge is perfectly timed to align with this strategic priority,” said Budd Brazier, manager of recreation and culture with the town. “This is a win-win for Strathmore. When you have an active, healthy community, it increases quality of life for everyone.”

ParticipACTION has made an effort to make participation as easy as possible for residents. Those who are interested can simply download the app off whichever app store is supported on their phone, create their account and register with their Strathmore postal code. 

Once logged in, a resident can join their community and start logging their active minutes from anything they get up to, from walking the dog, to vacuuming the house, to hitting the gym. 

“Back when it was Heart Month, our challenge was quite well received and people have asked for that to happen again, so I think this is a great way to encourage more people to be active,” said Montgomery. “Maybe it could be you are gardening; maybe you are going for a walk with your dog; it is stuff that you can do at your own house or just within the community, along with being able to access recreation centres.”

If anyone has further questions or concerns, they may feel free to contact Montgomery through the Strathmore Motor Products Sports Centre.