by Frank Lee
operations@thenewsleaders.com
A Sauk Rapids-based center for independent living is holding a create-your-own-video contest to reduce the stigma surrounding those with disabilities.
Independent Lifestyles Inc. challenges people to produce a two-minute video about treating the physically-challenged with respect and finding ways to be inclusive of those with disabilities.
“We are kind of targeting youths and students because we want kids to change the mentality about people with disabilities while they’re young and to make their schools and youth experience more inclusive,” said Cara Ruff, executive director of Independent Lifestyles Inc.
Independent Lifestyles Inc. is the lead organization in the Disability Awareness Task Force, a community-wide collaborative comprised of more than a dozen local organizations.
“We meet annually to bring about awareness and change in terms of the barriers and stereotypes that exist for people with disabilities,” Ruff said.
The annual meeting includes a dinner and a disability-themed movie, which will be held Oct. 11, and all who submit a video by the noon Sept. 16 deadline will receive a free ticket to the event.
The movie is Concussion, a dramatic thriller starring Will Smith as Dr. Bennet Omalu, a real-life forensic neuropathologist from Nigeria who discovered CTE, a football-related brain trauma.
“We want them to do videos that demonstrate how to treat disabilities with respect, how to be inclusive, how to end bullying, how to use empowering language and things like that,” Ruff said about the #BetheONE Video Challenge.
Last year’s winners of the challenge included the Sartell Dance Team in first place and the Eden Valley-Watkins first-grade class in second place.
“It can be any group, team or individual that can enter,” Ruff said of the challenge in which no professional photographers or videographers will be allowed to participate in the contest.
The first-place winner will be awarded $500, second-place winner will be awarded $250 and third-place winner will be awarded $150 in the second annual challenge based in part on how popular their videos are on YouTube as judged by the number of “likes” or “views” by those online.
“The whole point of this is we want people to see it, we want to change people’s perceptions and attitudes, and we want that by sharing these videos,” Ruff said.
The winners will be announced by Oct. 3 and invited to the task force’s Celebration of Abilities on Oct. 18 at the St. Cloud River’s Edge Convention Center where their videos will be shown.
The winners will be selected based on the most number of views a video receives on YouTube after the Disability Awareness Task Force posts it and by vote of the task force for “creativity, positive impact, clear message” and following the #BetheONE Video Challenge guidelines.
For more information about the #BetheONE Video Challenge, contact Ruff, Disability Awareness Task Force president, at 320-529-9000 or datfmn@gmail.com.
