Four B.C. communities win combined $400,000 of playground revitalizations

BCAA Play Here: British Columbians' votes choose Quesnel, Galiano Island, Kamloops and Prince Rupert

BURNABY, BC, June 23, 2017 /CNW/ - Communities in Quesnel, Galiano Island, Kamloops and Prince Rupert will soon have exciting new play spaces for their children, after gaining the most votes from British Columbians in this year's BCAA Play Here – a community investment program that delivers rejuvenated play spaces to B.C. communities in need.

Over a four week period, British Columbians cast votes to decide originally which three of 10 community finalists would each receive a $100,000 play space revitalization. Votes from across the province determined a clear group of four front-runners, with less than three-quarters of one per cent of the total vote separating third and fourth place.

After careful consideration to the closeness in votes and significant lead of the top four finalists, BCAA decided the right thing to do was to add a fourth winner to receive one of now four play space revitalizations, each worth up to $100,000.

"We asked British Columbians to have their say and vote for their favourite play space project," says Shawn Pettipas, BCAA's Senior Manager of Community Impact. "After third-party verification of all votes, final totals showed four of the 10 communities in a clear lead. We didn't expect these results but BCAA's focus is to protect B.C. kids by giving them better places to play so we've found a way to deliver exciting new play spaces to children in all four communities."

The four $100,000 BCAA Play Here winners:
BCAA Play Here and its partners will deliver four, $100,000 play space revitalizations to:

• Bouchie Lake Elementary School, Quesnel
• Galiano Community School, Galiano Island
• Marion Schilling Elementary School, Kamloops
• McKay Street Park, Prince Rupert

The four winners are among hundreds of play space nominations from across B.C. Ten finalists were shortlisted by a panel of judges and then the province was asked to vote. The public cast over 425,000 votes to decide which of 10 finalists would receive $100,000 play space revitalizations.

"We've been inspired by the passion of all our finalists and the display of support from our Members and British Columbians for their communities across the province," says Shom Sen, BCAA President & CEO. "We're excited to make a big impact for children in the four communities chosen by British Columbians."

As part of the initiative, BCAA and play space specialists will work closely with each community on designs and plans for each project. BCAA will then deliver play spaces customized to suit the size and characteristics of the area and complement the surrounding environment.

BCAA Play Here initiative enquiries:
www.bcaaplayhere.com

About BCAA Play Here
A multi-year, community investment initiative, BCAA Play Here protects kids in B.C. communities by rejuvenating play areas to make them better places to play. BCAA Play Here builds on a long-time focus on child road safety programs and recognizes the importance of play in healthy childhood development, including problem-solving, critical thinking, socializing and physical development.

About BCAA's Community Impact Programs
Part of BCAA's mandate is to protect kids throughout British Columbia. We do this by:

• Keeping children safer in school zones with student School Safety Patrollers across the province.
• Educating thousands of people a year across B.C. on the proper use and installation of child car seats.
• Donating thousands of new child car seats to reach families in need.
• Distributing thousands of reflective armbands around Halloween to make kids more visible to drivers.
• Providing Members with 'Slow Down, Kids Playing' signs to encourage safer driving in residential areas.

About BCAA
The most trusted organization in British Columbia by its Members, BCAA serves 1 in 3 B.C. households with industry-leading products including home, auto and travel insurance, roadside assistance, Evo Car Share and full auto service at BCAA's Auto Service Centres. With more than 100,000 partners worldwide, BCAA's 840,000 Members can save up to $1,000 per year on insurance and items they use every day. BCAA also has a long history focused on keeping kids safe on the road and at play through community programs. Learn more at bcaa.com.

SOURCE British Columbia Automobile Association

Media enquiries: Stephanie Thatcher, Mobile: [phone], [email protected]