As we mentioned last week’s blog post, June Is Rec and Parks Month is in full swing. If you don’t already know, JRPM is a great initiative that began in Ontario that promotes healthy and active living in schools, organizations and municipalities. Boosting the awareness of the importance and value of the benefits of what your parks and recreation organization does is key to getting more citizens and community members active and participating. Here are some examples of initiatives and programs to run at your parks and recreation organization:

1) Discounted Lessons - The benefits of discounting lessons is two-fold: you can increase the awareness of June Is Rec and Parks Month, as     well as a lesser-known lessons, classes or workshops. The key here is to pick a lesson with the most potential of growth. For example, picking the workshop     with the lowest attendance may not be the smartest idea, as no matter how much exposure it gets, it may never take off, while driving interest to a new     group of classes or workshops may help establish them as long-term programs.

2) Community Event - Host a party to celebrate June Is Rec and Parks Months. There are many ways to do this, to boost awareness for JRPM, as well as your facilities and programs. You can host it at a community center or even a block party. Have lots of different activities, prizes, performances, and ways to connect people with your organization. The more engaging you have it, the more fun it will be and, in turn, the more memorable it will be for your guests.

3) Challenges - Hold a day, week or month-long challenge of some sort with great prizes at the end (spend some time finding great sponsors, to increase engagement and lower your cost). For example, you can have guests enter to see who can attend the most classes, who can take the most steps (with a step counter), or who completes the most hikes in your trails. This will get a lot of people thinking about your challenge, and JRPM in general, for a while to come.

4) Tournaments/Competitions - A sports day, relay, and races are all great ideas to get your community out for some fun and friendly  competition. If you have access to beaches, a great summer activity you can host is a beach volleyball tournament. Get your citizens outdoors with some fun outdoor activities.

Don’t forget to like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Google+, to stay up to date with all of your Xplor Recreation news. Make sure to connect to June is Recreation and Parks Month’s Facebook and Twitter as well!