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At this time of year, it鈥檚 not unusual to find your pants fitting a little tighter than they did before the season of merrymaking descended upon our waistlines. After all, the holidays, although joyous, are known for overindulgence.

The cookies. The h鈥檕rderves. The turkey. The gravy. The eggnog.

The treats go down easy during the holidays and they鈥檙e happy to stick around, adhering to our tummies, hips, thighs and butts.

But, one group of Jasperites avoided the almost inevitable bulging Christmas bellies this year, as they participated in the second annual December Project.

The December Project, which began in 2014, is the brainchild of Jasperite Joe Urie.

The goal of the project is two-fold: to get people off the couch for 30 minutes of exercise a day and to raise funds for two local causes.

Urie came up with the idea as a way of encouraging people to get active during the holiday season鈥攁 time often consumed by overeating and inactivity.

鈥淒ecember started looking ugly to me,鈥� he said, explaining that it鈥檚 a month often overtaken by commercialization, stress and excessive eating and drinking. 鈥淏ut then you get your endorphins going and suddenly there鈥檚 a glean to the month.鈥�

In 2014, Urie started a Facebook page for the December Project, inviting the community to get involved and asking participants to share their daily progress by posting pictures of their outings.

That year, through a $10 buy-in and numerous fundraisers, the project raised $2,000 for Advocates for Special Kids (ASK), a local organization dedicated to helping kids with special needs.

The 2015 project, which wrapped up Dec. 31, is expected to double that, pulling in more than $4,000, with half going toward the Community Caring Fund and the other half supporting the community鈥檚 efforts to relocate two Syrian refugee families to Jasper.

Urie said the final numbers haven鈥檛 yet been tallied up, as he鈥檚 still running around town collecting pots of money from different businesses, but by Jan. 4 he had already collected $3,400, with a number of pickups still to do.

Of those funds, $1,000 was donated by Unifor Local 4534, the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge union. There was also a $250 donation by the Whistle Stop Bongs hockey team and some innovative fundraisers by local business owners and community members.

Early in the month, Rene Vena of Cafe Mondo put out a challenge, inviting community members to join her at the gym for a spin session and offered those who showed up a chance to purchase a $5 raffle ticket for a lamb dinner to feed eight people. The contest ran throughout the month of December, with people posting photos of their spin sessions and rushing to the cafe to buy in. The contest ultimately pulled in an additional $175 for the December Project.

鈥淭hat was a cool highlight,鈥� said Urie, noting that he鈥檇 love to see more initiatives like that in future years.

The winner of the lamb dinner鈥攚hich he hasn鈥檛 yet redeemed鈥攚as Kevin Lazzari.

鈥淚t was funny, I told my kid: 鈥業鈥檓 going to win!鈥� I always say that, I always think I鈥檓 going to win and I did,鈥� he said, noting that last year he also won the Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce鈥檚 raffle for a dinner for eight.

Lazzari went to two spin sessions with Vena, as well as a few on his own. He said he would have been happy to see anyone win, but he鈥檚 pretty thrilled that his name was pulled from the hat.

鈥淭hat was so awesome that Rene did that. I just think the whole project鈥攖he fundraising and the tie ins from businesses鈥攚as so awesome.鈥�

Lazzari, who took part in the inaugural project in 2014, said it improved his entire winter, getting him off on the right foot.

鈥淲inter鈥檚 long in Jasper. I found last year when I did the project the whole winter seemed a lot easier for me鈥擨 was in a routine.鈥�

So, he said, it was a no brainer to take part again this year and to donate some free movie rentals at the Video Stop as incentive to get people participating.

鈥淚 think next year it will be even better. Now there鈥檚 some awareness,鈥� he said.

Urie said he鈥檚 excited to see it grow and he hopes that as time goes by the community will own the December Project, getting more involved and planning fundraisers.

He pointed to the lamb dinner, the Stretch and Scotch organized by Liquor Lodge and the Jasper Physiotherapy and Health Centre and fitness classes hosted by the Fitness Network and the River Stone Yoga Studio as examples of how the community can be a part of the project and help raise funds for local causes.

鈥淚 hope as time goes on, people will make it their own thing,鈥� he said, noting that more than a dozen businesses hopped on board this year, either donating swag or organizing events.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 what the project will grow on,鈥� he said.

Nicole Veerman
[email protected]