Vote for Unity in the Community

While it has yet to reach the same level of mass hysteria wrought by “Hey Google, Pick Spokane”, another nationwide competition has taken hold in our town. This time the aim is to win $25,000 to support Unity in the Community, an annual celebration of diverse cultures and people in Spokane.

For those of you fortunate enough to not own a television, a certain beverage giant is granting $1.3 million to a variety of “do good” proposals each month this year. Instead of determining which projects receive funding in a typical corporate black box granting process with no oversight or accountability, they have put voting power in the hands of everyday consumers in exchange for a sick amount of PR.

While the contest was initially open to receiving proposals for 15 days each month, the program’s popularity has reduced the submission window to less than one minute. Local nonprofit Community-Minded Enterprises has managed to snag one of  the 1,000 coveted spots available to promote Unity in the Community. If we can win this proposal the funding will pay for a variety of program supplies to ensure the needs of all festival participants are met next year. (Think school supplies drive, see proposal for details.)

As of this writing, the Unity application is at #72. That means this is winnable! Please vote for this Spokane institution every day in August by going online to: http://www.refresheverything.com/uic. Simply create a quick account (your information goes nowhere) and push the “Vote for this idea” button. You can also cast a daily bonus vote by texting the message ‘101297’ to the recipient number: 73774.

It might be helpful to tether this ritual to something else you do once a day, like setting your alarm at night or taking the dog out in the morning. If you really want to be useful you can promote this effort through email, Twitter, Facebook, phone, etc. and can even embed a voting widget into your website. All of this can be accomplished from the UIC proposal page.

Another strategy to gain support for the project is to use your 9 remaining votes per day on other proposals and ask their voters to reciprocate the favor. I’m also voting for:

• Supply a Bed for Every Head in Spokane, WA for Homeless People
  Spokane Community Warehouse
• Buy the Puyallup Food Bank a building to keep feeding 20k neighbors!
  Puyallup Food Bank and Distribution Center
• Build a Playground by the Sound- imagined by kids, built by volunteers
  Playground by the Sound Committee

Regardless of how many votes you can cast towards the cause this month, make a day of it on August 21st by exploring this inspiring festival in the park. Vote for the Unity in the Community proposal at an information table that is set up for you to do so, and whatever you do, DON’T MISS the Cultural Village!

After all the activity, you can walk over to Oz Fitness across from the mall and refresh yourself with a locally innovated affordable Ecowell beverage. Cause why would anyone want to ship water, waste packaging and drink corn syrup when they don’t have to?

*Disclaimer: In case you forgot or are confused, the views expressed herein are not necessarily shared by any of the parties mentioned. Happy voting!