Canada’s longest running online community funding competition has wrapped up another year with one insurer donating $1 million to “create positive change in communities across Canada.”
Forty inspiring ideas entered the
Aviva Community Fund competition finals, representing causes that range from creating storage space for Vancouver’s homeless population, to enhancing a high school field to make it more accessible to a growing Ontario community, to renovating a beloved camp in Quebec.
“It’s been another fantastic year with so many ideas submitted for positive change,” says Debora Hendrickson, Aviva ’s senior vice president, customer & marketing. “The winners selected by our judging panel represent initiatives that really resonated with Canadians and we couldn’t be more thrilled that the $1 million fund is being shared by so many worthy causes.”
The winners were announced on CTV’s Canada AM broadcast, and the grand prize winners of the 2014 Aviva Community Fund are as follows:
- Restoring Golden Hall - Health benefits for all, Trepassey, N.L.
- Hope begins with a meal #SoulHarbour, Halifax, N.S.
- A home for the Joshua Group – Kathy’s wish, Saint John, N.B.
- Sauvons le Camp De La Salle, Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez, Que.
- A special needs playground for Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont.
- Heart of the community – Cambridge, Ont. (
Broker Grand Prize winner, submitted by Stevenson and Hunt Insurance Brokers Limited)
- Klahine - a Goderich Lions Club camp, Goderich, Ont.
- Ashley Neufeld Softball Sports Complex, Brandon, Man.
- Saint Andre Playground Project, Beaumont, Alta.
- Storage for the homeless, Vancouver, B.C.
- A new home for Lake Country Food Bank, Lake Country, B.C.
- Nootka Elementary School outdoor playground, Vancouver, B.C.
Grand prize winners were selected by a panel of independent judges after millions of votes were cast by Canadians during the four voting rounds. The remaining 28 finalists each received $5,000 towards their cause or a registered charity of their choice doing similar work.
In addition, 60 Wildcard prizes were drawn from the pool of ideas that reached 1,000 or more votes in each of the three qualifying rounds and each winner receives a $1,000 prize.
