TORONTO, ON, June 23, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aviva Canada, one of the country's leading insurance providers, is pleased to announce that the Aviva Community Fund is returning on September 15, 2015 for the seventh year in a row. We are excited to once again provide $1 million to help Canadians drive positive change in their communities.
This year's competition has been changed to help make it easier to win funding. Specifically, the rounds of voting have been reduced to one, followed by one round of judging. In addition, there are now only three submission categories – Community Resilience, Community Health, and Community Development.
"The competition is back and better than ever! We are investing another $1 million into worthwhile community initiatives across Canada," said Debora Hendrickson, Aviva Canada's Senior Vice President of Customer & Marketing. "And we have streamlined the process so it will be easier than ever for deserving projects to receive transformative funding."
One community that benefited from the 2014 competition is Trepassey, NL. In 1991, the community's single industry – a fish plant – closed, forcing two-thirds of the population to leave to find employment. Viola Pennell of Trepassey submitted an idea to rebuild the town's community hall, which was destroyed by flooding last spring. The idea won $45,000 from the Aviva Community Fund to help restore the hall, promoting health and well-being for years to come.
"The Aviva Community Fund is the best competition for community development that I have ever witnessed," said Viola Pennell. "Winning has given Trepassey a whole lot of hope."
Since 2009, Aviva Canada has provided $5.5 million to 192 winning projects from coast to coast. With over 10,000 ideas submitted so far, the Aviva Community Fund has more than 1 million registered participants, who cast approximately nine million votes.
Visit the Aviva Community Fund website for more information about the competition, to sign up for campaign updates, and to learn about how to get involved. Aviva will begin accepting idea submissions on September 15, 2015 and voting starts October 6, 2015.
About Aviva Canada
Aviva Canada is one of the leading property and casualty insurance groups in Canada providing home, auto and business insurance to more than three million customers. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of UK-based Aviva plc and has more than 3,000 employees, 25 locations and 1,700 independent broker partners.
For more information visit avivacanada.com, our blog or our Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn pages.
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Media Contact:
Glenn Cooper
Senior Manager, Public Relations & Social Media
Aviva Canada Inc.
Mobile: (416) 523-3225
Desk: (416) 288-2685
Glenn_cooper@avivacanada.com