Red River Mutual is bringing back its community sponsorship initiative, Spruce Up Your Story, this year.

The insurer will be providing $150,000 in total to help restore select community spaces across Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Each winning community space will be awarded up to $25,000 to help with the renovation or beautification of the space.

In addition to the grant money, Red River Mutual will also provide the community spaces with additional volunteer hours from its own crew of staff members, as well as volunteers from participating local brokerages – if and when it is safe to do so.

The public is invited to submit a community space renovation project for consideration until May 31, 2021. The submitted projects will then be evaluated based on community use and significance, commitment to sustainability, and connections to a local insurance brokerage.

“Spruce Up Your Story is another chance for Red River Mutual to honour and protect where stories are made,” said Red River Mutual president and CEO Brian Esau. "Our goal is to be the insurance provider Canadians love talking with. To do this, Canadians have to feel like we're on the same page with them – that we're like a neighbour looking out for them."

Last year, Red River Mutual selected 10 winners as recipients of more than $150,000 in Spruce Up Your Story grants. When the sponsorship program was first announced in February 2020, the insurer originally planned to award a total of $40,000, but since then the amount has been increased by nearly four times.

Read more: Red River Mutual awards winners of community space sponsorship program

Winners of the contest last year include Boys & Girls Clubs of the Battlefords in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, which received funding for basement renovations to expand its capacity, and Dugald Community Club in Dugald, Manitoba, where baseball diamond and dugout improvements were made to keep the field accessible for all ages of ball players.