KNOXVILLE (WATE) - The winners have been selected for Bloomberg Philanthropies' Mayors Challenge and Knoxville was unfortunately not among them.
A project to develop an urban food corridor was submitted to the challenger in the hopes of winning the $5 million grand prize. It was selected as one of 20 finalists in December.
Although Knoxville was not selected, Mayor Madeline Rogero has promised
to continue working on the program.
Earlier this week, the $5 million grand prize was awarded to Providence,
R.I. for a project that aims to reduce the word gap in language skills between low-income and middle and upper class children.
$1 million awards went to four other cities: Chicago, Houston,
Philadelphia, and Santa Monica, Calif.
"Knoxville was
honored to be one of 20 finalist cities from more than 300 that entered," Mayor
Rogero said. "It was a great opportunity for us to think creatively about some
long-term challenges, and I really appreciate all the support and encouragement
we received from Bloomberg Philanthropies. Of course it is disappointing not to
win, but we have already begun discussions with our local partners in this
proposal to find other ways to put the program in place."
The Urban Food
Corridor would create working farms on formerly blighted properties in
Knoxville's center-city neighborhoods, providing locally-grown produce to stores
and restaurants as well as to residents of areas that often lack affordable,
accessible healthy food.
The program was recently featured in an article written by Mayor Rogero on the Huffington Post.
