SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Though it may not come in first, the NWT SPCA animal shelter looks like a shoe-in for the top 10 ideas up for funding from the Aviva Community Fund, as the semi-finals draw to an end tonight at 10 p.m.

Judges considering whether to award funding to the NWT SPCA to build an animal shelter will be confronted with the story of Bela, the sole survivor of a six-puppy litter found with their throats slit at the Behchoko dump last year. Given medical care by veterinarian Tom Pisz, she's now grown into a healthy, loving dog, and her story is just one of many dramatic examples of animal cruelty that the NWT SPCA says illustrates the need for a stand alone NWT shelter. - NNSL file photo

The NWT SPCA crafted an entry asking for funding to build an animal shelter, and posted it on Oct. 1 to the insurance company's contest website, which awards funding to project ideas that promote a positive change in their communities. The contest is based on several voting stages and a final judging round.

As of yesterday at 4:30 p.m., the NWT SPCA's entry sat at 36,838 votes - 363 behind the leader, Field of Dreams. The competitor had been trailing the shelter in amounts of up to 4,000 for much of the semi-final round, until it levelled out the point-spread over the weekend. Both are more than 7,000 votes ahead of the third-place entry.

"It would be nice to be in first place ... But as long as we're in the top 10 I'm happy," said Nicole Spencer, president of the NWT SPCA and the creator of the contest entry.

There are three funding categories - up to $25,000; $25,000 to $100,000; and $100,000 to $500,000, which the SPCA's entry is in. Ten entries with the most votes in each category are chosen for the final round, in which the ideas are scrutinized by a panel of judges.

The actual number of votes an idea gets does not technically mean it will win the contest. It just has to be in the top ten, according to Glenn Cooper, senior manager of public relations for Aviva Canada, Inc.

"Whether one had 20,000 or 18,000 (votes) versus another that had 14,000, I can't say whether that's going to have an impact on the individual judges," said Cooper.

The ideas are sorted by the judges according to a set of criteria: the impact the idea will have on the community, and the urgency of the need; the likelihood of success; the sustainability of the project after it receives the one-time injection of cash from Aviva; originality; and the amount of effort put into the submission. At least one winner is chosen in each category, and then the next ideas in line are funded until the $1-million fund is completely used up.

Cooper said he personally found it impressive that a community as small as Yellowknife was able to rally and vote the idea into the top tier of the contest, out of more than over 2,000 entries submitted from all over Canada.

Spencer reiterated that thought, and said she finds the support "inspiring."

"We have a very, very enthusiastic community here and it pulls together," said Spencer.

As of noon on Monday, the NWT SPCA was set to receive a total of 50 cents per vote gained between 10 p.m. Monday night and 10 p.m. Tuesday, from local businesses Quality Furniture, SSI Micro, and Independent Electrical Services Ltd, regardless of the contest's outcome.

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