Heather Latter
The local “Respect Campaign,” vying for $10,000 through the Pepsi Refresh Project, currently is sitting in 33rd place—two spots ahead of where it was two weeks ago.
As such, the Celebrating Diversity Committee, which initiated the project, is urging the community to continue voting for its cause.
“We need people to vote,” stressed committee chair Trudy McCormick.
“I think we can do it. It’s a question of perseverance,” she remarked.
“If we have more people who remember to keep voting and other places give up, then there’s a big chance we could move up,” she reasoned.
In fact, the idea had jumped as high as 28th place last week, so McCormick insisted “we should keep at it.”
The “Respect Campaign” will be comprised of a number of programs and strategies meant to raise awareness of how people should treat one another.
The committee plans to provide training to district businesses and organizations on respect. These, in turn, will be given visible identifiers (i.e., buttons, lanyards, posters, and door signs) so that anyone going into these organizations immediately will know that they can expect to be treated with respect.
McCormick said the definition of diversity is very broad, and includes gender, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, religion, people with disabilities, people with mental illness, race, age, etc.
“It’s a feel-good idea,” she explained. “When you tell people about it, they say that’s the kind of thing they want to be involved in, that’s the kind of business they want to shop in, that’s the kind of organization they want to work for.”
The committee also plans to work with the local school boards and officially launch the campaign in September.
McCormick noted they submitted the idea to the Pepsi Refresh Project, which aims to support ideas that will have a positive impact on communities, in order to gain some funding to help get the “Respect Campaign” off the ground, as well as to raise some awareness about it.
The top three ideas in the category will receive funding.
McCormick said if the committee doesn’t earn the Pepsi funding, they will continue with their campaign.
“But the funding would certainly make it easier,” she conceded, noting she’s pleased with all the support they have received so far for the “Respect Campaign.”
“Everyone who we have talked to has been very positive and enthusiastic about the idea,” she remarked.
“And I think it’s pretty exciting that we’ve done as well as we have so far,” she added, referring to their current ranking in the race for $10,000.
There are a total of 50 entries in their category, with online voting continuing until the end of June.
“People can vote every day, once a day, with each e-mail address they have,” McCormick explained.
To vote for its idea, visit www.refresheverything.ca/respect
The Celebrating Diversity Committee, meanwhile, has been working on its presentation of the campaign, which will be taken to a first round of businesses and organizations next month.
The committee focuses on “working together to create communities that celebrate diversity by actively practicing and promoting dignity, respect, and inclusiveness.”
Two other ideas in the district also are competing for funds through the Pepsi Refresh Project.
The Township of Emo, for instance, is seeking $25,000 to plan and implement a recycling strategy there.
As well, the Rainy River District School Board is interested in creating “green” spaces at every school in the district if it receives $25,000.
These ideas, which currently are sitting in 57th and 48th place, respectively, are in a separate category from the “Respect Campaign” idea, so people are encouraged to vote for each of them.
Vote for the latter two ideas at www.refresheverything.ca/emorecycling and www.refresheverything.ca/greenspace
