Voting for the “Mask Up Alabama” video contest is coming to a close this Thursday at noon.
The competition is asking Alabamians to vote on their favorite videos made by fellow residents sharing why they feel it’s important to wear a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Alabama Department of Public Health, the Alabama Hospital Association, and the Medical Association of the State of Alabama are sponsoring the contest. The three organizations selected 10 videos for the public to vote on out of almost 100 submissions.
Jeannie Gaines is the communications director for the Hospital Association and hopes the authentic approach the videos portray encourages more people to mask up.
“We hope [the videos] also kind of struck a chord with them to say, ‘These are my peers, these aren’t just some big healthcare representatives and so I want to protect these people because they want to protect me,’” she said.
She also mentioned being impressed by the quality of the videos produced and enjoyed seeing the variety of people featured. Gaines said it was very difficult for the judges to choose the top 10.
“We liked to see families working together, we liked to see healthcare workers in the videos. So our top 10 was all across the board as far as content but I do want to note that these videos were incredible. It was really hard to narrow it down to just 10,” she said.
The link for public online voting can be found on the websites for both the Alabama Department of Public Health and Alabama Hospital Association. The top five videos selected by the public have opportunities to win cash prizes. The first place winner will receive $600, second place will receive $400 and third place will receive 200 dollars. The fourth and fifth place winners will receive honorable mentions. All five videos will be featured online. The winners will be announced on Feb. 1.
