June 4, 2015
In celebration of RBC Blue Water Day, the City of Toronto and RBC today announced the winners of the Make a Splash, Blue Water Contest. The contest invited Toronto elementary and secondary school students to share a story, memory or wish about our waterways and indicate why they're important to keep clean and healthy.
"I'm delighted by the passion, joy and hope that Toronto youth have for our waterways and by the many ways that they expressed it," said Councillor Michelle Berardinetti (Ward 35 Scarborough Southwest), Chair of the Parks and Environment Committee.
The winners in each category include:
Kindergarten to Grade 8
• First place: Room 26, Ryerson Community School • Second place: Class 7C, Joseph Howe Senior Public School
Grades 9 to 12
• First place: Vanessa Sokic, Father John Redmond Collegiate Secondary School • Second place: Sohrab Nayyar, North Albion Collegiate Institute
The first-place winners will each receive $5,000 for a project to green the school, courtesy of RBC. In addition, the high school will be visited by an Olympic athlete, and the elementary school entry will be featured in a Kidoons Network Show. The second place winners will each receive $1,000 towards a greening project, courtesy of RBC.
“As a big supporter of both healthy waterways and healthy youth, we are delighted to see so many creative entries to this contest, which brought these two priorities together," said Kim Mason, RBC Regional President for Greater Toronto.
The contest generated 97 entries from students across Toronto. The top entries will be featured in a public display at various City and RBC locations. The winners were selected by a panel of RBC representatives and local artists.
About RBC Blue Water Project
The RBC Blue Water Project is a historic, wide-ranging, 10-year global commitment to help protect the world’s most precious natural resource: fresh water. Since 2007, RBC has pledged nearly $41 million to more than 700 charitable organizations worldwide that protect water, with an additional $8.8 million pledged to universities for water programs. The RBC Blue Water Project is focussed on supporting initiatives that help protect water in towns, cities and urbanized areas. For further information, visit www.rbc.com/bluewater.
Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. Toronto is proud to be the Host City for the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit
http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us @TorontoComms.
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Media contact: Valerie Cassells, Strategic Communications, 416-660-1712, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
