Residents of Frontier and the surrounding area have rallied behind a local entry in a national contest.
Community volunteers are spearheading an effort that they hope will ultimately result in a $100,000 prize to help build a new fire hall and ambulance garage in the village.
The project has been entered in the Pepsi Refresh Project, an on-line contest that gives individuals, small groups and organizations the chance to receive grants for various projects in their communities.
The Frontier project is competing in the $100,000 Health category, the largest prize available in a year-long grant program.
Since voting got underway on January 11th, the Frontier initiative has skyrocketed up the charts, moving from 96th spot on January 11th to 15th place, out of 300 entries, as of last Friday (Feb. 4th).
“The community support has been amazing,” said Cari Evenson-Carleton of Frontier EMS, who submitted the Frontier bid to Pepsi after getting the idea from her aunt Nyla Berg.  “Everyone has really gotten behind the project and it’s been exciting for all of us watching our progress as we've moved up the leaderboard.”
The Pepsi project is the most recent effort by community organizers to get a new fire hall and ambulance garage constructed.  At the moment, the local emergency teams require six separate buildings scattered throughout the community to use for their vehicles, equipment and office space. Along with the limited space arrangements, the fire hall and ambulance building also face other shortcomings, including a lack of running water and bathroom facilities at either site.
At this point the proposal is still in its development stage and organizers are currently awaiting construction drawings in an effort to get a more accurate quote on the cost of the building. Preliminary estimates have put the facility in the $550,000 price range.
Winning a $100,000 prize through Pepsi, needless to say, would go a long way to getting the project completed.
“Obviously, we can’t rely on winning the contest and we would still like to see the project proceed no matter what happens with the Pepsi Refresh Challenge,” said Evenson-Carleton. “But, if nothing else, it has been very encouraging to see the community get behind our proposal and support the project.”
For more details on the challenge go to www.refresheverything.ca. The Frontier entry, entitled “Help Build a New Emergency Services Building,” is listed under the $100,000.00 Health category. Voting for this cycle of the Refresh project ends on February 28.
Area residents can vote once a day for the Frontier entry until the contest runs out at the end of the month.
“I can only hope everybody will take the time to vote for us every day, because every vote counts,” said Evenson-Carleton.
Another Southwest community has also entered the Pepsi contest during the period that wrapped up at the end of the year.
The Eastend T.rex Centre was hoping to win $100,000 to revise and renew the gallery at the local facility.
The Eastend campaign also enjoyed a successful run before finishing in 15th place overall in its voting category.
Pepsi is giving away more than a million dollars through their Refresh program in order to fund community projects. Other prize categories range from $5,000, to $25,000.