The Bristol Tennessee Parks and Recreation Department is always up for a challenge, and this will be no exception. Communities across Tennessee are applying for grants to build dog parks in their towns and cities.
The Boyd Foundation has introduced the Tennessee Dog Park Dash Competition. Through the program, the Boyd Foundation will award a $1 million annual donation for building, and the enhancement of, dog parks in communities across the state. The grant program will award $900,000 to communities, evenly distributed across the state’s grand divisions. The final $100,000 will be awarded through a contest to find the most pet-friendly community. In order to apply for the grant the city must engage in an event centered around charitable contributions for a pet organization in need and, as a community, go above and beyond competitors to show pet pride.
Bristol Tennessee Parks and Recreation will hold a food drive for the Sullivan County Animal Shelter as its grant project event, which is a major component of the overall grant. The department will be hosting a “Pounds for the Pound” event on Saturday, June 16, 2018 from 10 am to 1 pm at the Food City Park located at 531 Oakwood Street, in Bristol, Tennessee, just behind Food City on Virginia Avenue. This location is the proposed location for the new dog park. The community is being asked to bring out bags of dry dog food that will be donated to the shelter. Support for the initiative’s success will be measured by the pounds of dog food donated at the event. Parks and Recreation officials are hoping to see 300 pounds of donated dog food brought to the event. Concept drawings of a new dog park will be available for the community to review at the donation site on the day of the event. The Boyd Foundation grant could bring a badly needed dog park to the heavily populated east end of Bristol.
The Sullivan County Animal Shelter will be on hand with several dogs for onsite adoption.
Bandannas with the new Bristol brand will be available for pets attending the event with their person, while supplies last.
In addition to the food drive, the Parks and Recreation Department will be sponsoring a Pawtraits Doggie Calendar Contest with entries accepted from June 15 through August 1 at 2 pm. At the end of the entry period the members of the Parks and Recreation Commission will choose 12 “pawtraits” to be included in the full color calendar, with an over-all winner to be the featured cover “pawtrait.”
Rules for the contest will be posted on the city’s website and Facebook page. This effort will be considered in the overall grant process that requires a component that reflects pet pride.
Grant and contest winners will be announced in early July 2018.
For more information on the event please contact April Norris at 423-764-7900 or email [email protected].
