Village Gamer

After over two million votes, thirty ideas have risen to the top and been chosen as finalists for this year’s Aviva Community Fund competition. The Fund, now in its third year and created by home and auto insurer Aviva Canada, provides $1,000,000 in donations to lead, empower and support community initiatives across the country. (We here at Village Gamer had hoped to see the Youth At Risk project make it into the finals, and while it was close, the joint Abbotsford Police and Fire Department program did not make the top ten medium-sized projects.)

The 30 finalist ideas are now in the hands of a panel of impartial judges including Canada AM Anchor Jeff Hutcheson, Volunteer Canada President & CEO Ruth MacKenzie and Free The Children co-founder Craig Kielburger. The judges will review the ideas to decide which projects will receive funding. Winners will be announced January 25, 2012.

While voting is over, supporters can still contribute monetarily to their favourite Aviva Community Fund causes. Starting today, ideas with associated charities will have their “vote now” button replaced with a “donate now” button. These ideas can continue to leverage AvivaCommunityFund.org to collect donations from supporters. Benevity, a software company that helps businesses build more engaging cause marketing, community investment, workplace giving and other charitable programs, is providing the donation processing and tax receipting functionality.

“We would like to congratulate the finalists and everyone that entered the competition for participating. We appreciate each one of these organizations, groups or individuals that stepped up to make their community better and encourage them to continue,” said Debra Ambrose, Senior Vice President of National Sales and Marketing at Aviva Canada. “We’d also like to thank our broker partners for their support in working with many of the submissions to help create positive change in their communities.”

Listed below by province are the Aviva Community Fund 2011 finalists:

British Columbia

• Kitchen Equipment to Help Feed Bodies and Souls (Kamloops)
• Bear Rescue Facility (Smithers)
• VOKRA’s Feline Trap, Neuter, Return Program (Vancouver)

Northwest Territories

• Children’s First Centre (Inuvik)

Alberta

• Holyrood School Courtyard Classroom (Edmonton)
• G.S. Lakie Convertible Theatre/ Summer Arts Institute (Lethbridge)
• Rescue for Life – First Nation’s Spay/Neuter Initiatives (Spruce Grove)

Nunavut

• Help Us Build Nunavut’s First Animal Shelter (Iqaluit)

Saskatchewan

• Yorkton Skateboard, Bike and Walking Park (Yorkton)

Manitoba

• Help D’Arcy’s A.R.C. Animal Rescue Centre (Winnipeg)

Ontario

• Cameron Street Public School’s Yard Revitalization (Collingwood)
• St. Joseph’s Villa / SIM Gym — What if? One Day… (Dundas)
• Kate’s Kause Accessible Playground (Elmira)
• St. John School’s Field of Dreams (Guelph)
• Head Strong (Kitchener)
• A New Hope For Spinal Cord Injury Recovery (Newmarket)
• Kaiden’s Care Kits (Russell)
• Give Our Lions a Place to Roar! (St. Catharines)
• Harder 4 Carter (Temiskaming Shores)
• Help us Champion the Cause of Homeless Cats (Toronto)

Quebec

• TED: Troubles Envahissants du Développement (Boucherville)
• Cascades Club: Something Special from Just About Nothing (Chelsea)
• Des arbres et des jeux, là où il fera bon grandir! (Gatineau)
• Un terrain de jeu grandeur nature (Ste Catherine de la Jacques-Cartier)
• Accoucher de rire (Montreal)
• Complexe culturel Paradis (Rimouski)

New Brunswick

• Saint John SPCA Animal Rescue Needs New Dog/ Cat Kennels (Saint John)

Prince Edward Island

• Bring Bobbi-Jo Home! (Tignish)

Newfoundland and Labrador

• Help Bridges to Hope Fight Poverty in Newfoundland and Labrador (St. John’s)
• Labrador SPCA Needs a New Animal Shelter for K-9’s and Felines! (Valley-Goose Bay)