Ala Moana Park Competes for $100,000 via Checkins, Votes

Users of Foursquare are being encouraged to “check in” at Ala Moana Regional Park to compete for a $100,000 “America’s Favorite Park” award from Coca-Cola’s Live Positively campaign.

The contest, which also involves voting online at the “America’s Favorite Park” website, began on May 23 and runs through July 15. But a local campaign is gearing up to push it up the charts.

Ala Moana is currently ranked 34th with 35,400 votes, and its Foursquare page shows 177 total checkins. Jekyll Island State Park in Georgia is currently in first place with over 1,466,800 votes and 2,890 checkins.

Foursquare checkins are worth 100 votes, but users must register their Foursquare accounts at the “America’s Favorite Park” site before their check-ins count.

The second place park will receive $50,000, the third place park will get $25,000, and a $15,000 grant will be awarded at random to a park ranked 4th through 25th at the end of the contest. The recreation grants are provided to help restore, rebuild or enhance activity areas in parks where people can play and be active. Each park can decide how to use the funds, but Coca-Cola gives examples like a new bike path, basketball court, or a park makeover.

Separately, Ala Moana Beach Park has already received a $10,000 “America Is Your Park” grant from the global beverage company, and the grant will be presented at 2 p.m. today to Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle at a press event near Magic Island.

Mayor Carlisle will make remarks, and be joined by city parks director Gary Cabato and Coca-Cola public affairs and communications representative Nancy Limon.

According to Coca-Cola:

Parks are the anchors of our communities. They provide places for friends, families and neighbors to be active and enjoy the outdoors together. However, in recent years, funding for parks has fallen short of operating and maintenance costs – causing many to fall into disrepair or even close. That’s why Coca-Cola is awarding hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to improve parks this summer.

For more information on the contest, visit LivePositively.com/parks