Help us decide how to spend our RWJF Culture of Health prize money

When Sitka won a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health prize last week, it received $25,000 to spend on improving the culture of health in Sitka.

So how do we spend the money? The Sitka Health Summit Coalition wants to hear from you about what to do with the money. While $25,000 isn't a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, it can help kick-start a couple of projects, be leveraged for more money when we apply for grants, and more. So how should we spend it?

We want to receive at least 200 suggestions before Friday, Dec. 13 (NOTE: The deadline has been extended to Feb. 14, and we have a new online idea submission link), when we will hold a Sitka Health Summit Planning Day afternoon to go offer the ideas and choose a couple to be community wellness projects. Ideas can highlight a variety of health needs, such as nutrition, food security, active transportation (walking and biking), climate change, behavioral health, substance abuse treatment, youth needs, elder needs, and more.

When suggesting project ideas, please consider these four elements:

• Does the project establish or build additional collaborations in the community?

• Does the project leverage the funds provided either monetarily or in other resources?

• Does the project focus on equity?

• Can the project be sustained?

Members of the Sitka Health Summit Coalition will be making presentations and collecting idea cards at a variety of meetings between now and Dec. 13. The Sitka Health Summit Coalition will host a celebratory dinner from 6-8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 12, at the Sheet'ká Kwáan Naa Kahídi (please RSVP to Chandler O'Connell, chandler@sitkawild.org, by Monday, Dec. 9). There also is a display at the Sitka Public Library where people can fill out the idea cards and submit them. The other option is to email your ideas to Vera Gibson at vgibson@scpsak.org.