Monticello Charity Challenge
Kristine Curtis and Marci Bothwell were doing one of the things they could still do after the Covid-19 lockdown...running. For fitness not political office. It was April and the two were talking about how life in a small town allowed citizens to have more of an impact on their community, to make it better. One or two people can be the catalyst needed to help make Monticello a good community to live in. After a run Marci texted with an idea to put together a virtual race where all the money went into buying gift cards to local businesses they could raffle off as rewards for the race. It would serve two purposes. The first was as a way to help out local businesses during times when customers aren’t coming in and the cash register sits silent. The second was to get people out and doing something they love that would fit within the social distancing guidelines the state had recommended.
After thinking about it for a few days Kristine and Marci decided that the running aspect only targeted a small demographic of people and both felt it needed a lot more planning than they were willing to put into it. The idea morphed Kristine writes, “So we changed it to a four week challenge where you can do any type of activity.”
Participants pay a $15 entry fee and then keep track of how many times they do physical activity that week. On Saturdays they report to Kristine and Marci through the Facebook page how many times they did their selected activity for the past week. They determine the winner and the winner gets a $25 gift card.
Kristine continues. “We thought that was enough of an incentive for people to join and would target a wider range of people and be able to help out local businesses! We also thought it would be good to help people get out and still be active during this time of social distancing.”
Kristine and her husband Kedric came to Monticello about 3 and half years ago. Kedric was from Monticello but Kristine had grown up in the Salt Lake area. For Marci and her husband it was just the opposite. Marci was born in Monticello but had lived back east for school and spent some time in Arizona before returning to San Juan County about 3 years ago.
With a resume revealing they are more than just fitness runners, Kristine and Marci participated in a half marathon with a group from Monticello last September. Kristine estimates the two run 3-4 miles when they take off for a run.
And as Kristine said, it isn’t only a challenge to runners. Gardeners, walkers, bike riders, any activity that gets you moving around qualifies. You record how much of your chosen activity you have done and report it once a week then Kristine and Marci look at the numbers and figure out who the winner is. And so far the winner is….Monticello! Gift cards have been purchased with the entry fees for Ja-Roen Thai, Unique Creations, NAPA, Blue Mountain Foods to name just a few. The list reveals 21 businesses that have benefited from the purchase of gift cards.
Anyone who pays the entrance fee is qualified to win. The more activity you do the better your chance is to win. But then luck comes in Kristine explains. “The winners are chosen through a random drawing. So the amount of activity you do equals the amount of times your name is put into the drawing, then it is randomly selected. So we determine the winners through a drawing.”
The winners are listed on the Monticello Charity Competition Facebook page. And the demographic is pretty wide, Kristine says most people are in the 20's-50's age range.
If you want to get in on the Monticello Charity Competition Kristine reveals that it’s pretty simple. “They either venmo me @Kristine-Curtis or give me or Marci cash. Then I add you on our spreadsheet and you are entered in! I keep an updated list on the Facebook page. Our highest number of activities for a week has been 12. The average number people report is about 3-7.”
So get running, walking, gardening, or whatever activity you think might get you there. But get on it, the challenge ends this week. Meanwhile go here to find out more....Monticello Charity Challenge. And watch the videos. Kristine and Marci are pretty entertaining as ad libbers.
