Niagara Cares facilitators encourage those final votes
(Seguin) – Niagara Bottling is not only partnering to host this year’s Niagara Perk Your Park competition, but it’s also taking this final day of the online competition to cheer on the communities looking to win.
Today is the final day to vote in the competition that began on Aug. 7. Seguin’s Max Starcke Park is one of nine national parks systems that are competing for one of three $75,000 grand prizes.
At the end of today, the top three communities who were able to solicit the most votes will become the winners of the contest.
If named a winner, Seguin will use the money towards the replacement of the old Kids Kingdom Playscape that was torn down earlier this year at Max Starcke Park East.
Cheering on the nominated communities including Seguin is Ann Canela, the director of Corporate Giving (Niagara Cares).
“Niagara Cares is the charitable arm of Niagara Bottling, and the mission of Niagara is about providing high quality fresh water in the communities that we serve, and we also are very committed to investing in sustainable initiatives that promote healthier lifestyles and so for us, it makes a lot of sense to support an organization like the National Recreation and Parks Association. It’s about parks and recreation so we have been partnering with NRPA since I think about 2010. We’ve done 17 parks and we’ve given about $2 million to date and for us it’s about healthy lifestyles, getting people and really getting people close to nature, community spirit and supporting our communities is really embedded in the culture of Niagara,” said Canela.
Canela says an important piece to winning is that Niagara employees themselves will help to see the project through.
“We do all the work for you so that’s what is wonderful about it. All of our employees will go out there. Our employees are actually the ones building the park for you which is so wonderful. Niagara Cares through our Employees Giving Back Program, we are the ones that are actually going to do all the work to build the park,” said Canela.
Over the years, Canela says the contest has helped to revitalize, restore and even incorporate amenities that improve the quality of life for all.
“We have done some really creative beautiful things at these parks in the past. We’ve done butterfly gardens. We’ve done murals. We’ve done upgraded playground equipment and also the wonderful thing is all of our Niagara team members come out and volunteer so it’s a beautiful experience for our team members as well to interact with the community so just get out there and vote and make sure your park is the winning park,” said Canela.
Since the start of the contest, city of Seguin leaders have been aggressive in ensuring that residents vote for the future of Max Starcke Park and again remind them that today is not the day to forget to vote.
Like city officials, Canela says Niagara is also encouraging folks to find the time and vote during this last leg of the competition.
“I just want to say that we are in Seguin, and we do so much more than just this park for the community. We are so thankful that one of the parks that got nominated was this park. We are rooting for all the parks, and we also just hold a special place in our heart for Seguin, so we are with you. We can’t hold any bias towards any one community, but we are glad that one of our communities also made it to the top,” said Canela.
To vote for the $75,000 park upgrades, visit https://niagaraperkyourpark.com/parks/max-starcke-park/. The link is also available on the city of Seguin’s website as well as the city of Seguin and KWED Facebook pages.