A local non-profit is asking for your help to win $25,000. Jacksonville Main Street is once again in an on-line voting contest to win a large some of money.
It’s called “Independent We Stand America’s Main Street Contest.” It’s a national contest sponsored by Stihl Inc. as well as Do It Best Corporation, PPG Pittsburgh Paints and North American Retail Hardware Association.
Executive Director Judy Tighe explains how you can vote on the website: www.mainstreetcontest.com
“It’s really simple, you just go online everyday and vote for Jacksonville. You can vote from multiple email addresses. The trick is, it’s locked out by ISP provides. So if you have multiple people, it’s probably not gonna work.” said Tighe.
The voting goes until April 22nd. Jacksonville Main Street was a semi-finalist in 2016. Tighe explains how her organization would use the prize money if they were to win.
“$25,000 to a local non-profit is huge money. that would go a long way to our future projects. We are looking into to putting together in 2019 another mural event, to restore the murals that we have and hopefully add to the collection. That would take us a long way in that project. It also helps with the things we do day to day. That prize would be extremely beneficial to us.” Tighe said.
Tighe goes onto say that the winnings could help create new jobs in the area.
“That’s the bottom line of everything that we do, economic development and historic preservation together. Offering more and better services and more support to property owners, we look at ways how we can help anyway we can. There’s a lot of things we do now but this will only enhance what we are doing so we can do more.” said Tighe.
You may vote once per 24 hour period. Voting ends on April 22nd and the top 25 communities will become semi-finalist. Another round voting will begin and that will last from April 30th to May 27th. The grand prize will be selected by a panel of judges who will select from the top 10 communities with the highest votes.
To cast your vote, log onto www.mainstreetcontest.com/profile/45