Ellington

For Linda Richards, $5,000 is a big chunk of change.

As president of the East Lake Neighborhood Association, which won $5,000 in last year’s My Neighborhood Rocks video contest, she has seen firsthand how that amount of money can create countless opportunities, whether it’s cleaning up a dilapidated area of the neighborhood or funding a National Night Out for residents.

Other neighborhoods will get a shot at $5,000 — and all the possibilities — this fall as Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise launches its second annual My Neighborhood Rocks contest.

“We’re hoping this contest will be an incentive to make a project happen in the neighborhood, to put park benches in or to clean up an area,” said CNE Director of Development Nick Wilkinson. “Through this contest we hope to hear from some neighborhood associations and some folks out in the neighborhood.”

This year’s theme is “How do you play in your neighborhood?” and participants are asked to create and submit a five-minute or less video with an emphasis on “play,” he said. All submissions should be posted to the CNE Facebook page at www.facebook.com/cneinc or to the contest website at www.myneighborhoodrocks.com.

Like last year’s contest, Wilkinson said participants will have access to the Association for Visual Arts media lab for video editing during the contest. A mentor program has also been introduced this year that gives neighborhood associations the option of spending up to eight hours with local videographers, he said.

“If you want expert advice, let us know,” said Wilkinson. “We really feel like adding a mentor evens the playing field a little bit this year.”

Any neighborhood seeking a mentor must register for that free service by Sept. 10.

Like last year, those eligible to enter the contest must live in the city of Chattanooga. Neighborhood associations are allowed to submit more than one entry, but only one entry per individual will be accepted.

Online voting by the community will determine the top five videos, and those videos will then be judged on creativity, originality, adherence to the theme and overall quality by a committee of judges.

The grand prize winner will receive a $5,000 check for their neighborhood association and two runners-up will receive $1,000 and $500 respectively. The results will be announced at a community event Nov. 9.

“It’s going to be a really nice fun event, and we’re hoping to outdo last year’s block party,” Wilkinson said.

For more information visit www.myneighborhoodrocks.com or call CNE at 756-6201.