Voting for my Local Park to Win a $100K Grant

Helping My Favorite Park Win a $100K Grant

Remember the Coca-Cola America Is Your Park campaign? I've been doing my best to help my favorite local park garner as many votes as possible. One thing is for sure, every vote counts if I'm to help my park win that $100,000 grant. Last year, park supporters cast more than 13 million votes for their favorite parks, and do you know who won? Oak Park in the small town of Minot, ND!

I followed the online trail to discover the secret to their success, and as I suspected, it was promotion all the way! Everyone in the Minot community got involved and campaigned for their park. They held events in Oak Park, mobilized through online communities, got hometown celebrities involved and voted nonstop.

Now Coca-Cola has made it easy enough for anyone who is interested to try to replicate that. Check out the America Is Your Park inspiration video below and the following tips from the LivePositively.com/parks app to help get your favorite park to the top of the leader board.

Start Online

• Vote at LivePositively.com/parks from now until July 15, 2012. After you vote, share with your social network simply by clicking the Share button.
• Set up a Facebook page to spread the word and rally everyone around your park. Share regular status updates on how your park is ranking on the leader board.

Gather Together at the Park

• Get active in the park. Bike, run, rollerblade or play games with your friends and family.
• And while you’re there, encourage everyone to vote! Each Fourquare check-in from the park earns your favorite 100 more votes. Check out LivePositively.com/parks for more details on voting from the park.

Get Out the Vote!

• Use the toolkit found on LivePositively.com/parks to help organize your community and empower others to get involved.
• Send emails, letters and tweets to community leaders, park groups, local celebrities and more telling them about the campaign and why your park is so special.
• Print out the flyer found in the toolkit and post all over your park. Ask park-goers to use their smartphones to cast a vote on the spot!

As you can see from the pictures above, I am doing what I can and continue to do so. What about you? How have you been promoting your park? Check out the video below.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Only legal residents of the 50 U.S. (and D.C.) who are at least 13 years old and reside within the U.S. at the time of participation are eligible to vote for a Park. Participate on behalf of a Park by: July 15, 2012. The 3 most popular Parks will be offered a grant and there will be 1 Wild Card drawing at the end of the Contest to award an additional grant.  To participate, for Official Rules, and complete details including grant descriptions, visit www.LivePositively.com/parks. Void where prohibited.