Wood Buffalo, 3 things movement

Wood Buffalo residents recently found out what the deal was about the roving purple number 3 that has been spotted, and it involves a community engagement campaign called the 3 things movement. This is a new initiative by the municipality to engage residents and encourage them to make a difference 3 things at a time. More about the initiative can be found at the website 3thingsforwoodbuffalo.com. According to committee member Paula Ogonoski “(It’s) a way to remind us that we can all be doing small steps to make our community that much better. It was a comfortable number. It’s not a huge number in that it feels overwhelming, but it is a number that still feels like it’s impactful. We can all do three things.”

The 3 things movement in Wood Buffalo started with a single resident. The resident was concerned that the zero tolerance signs displayed by businesses in the area promoted a negative image. According to Ogonoski “There’s a lot of businesses in the community that have these signs that say ‘Zero tolerance toward verbal or physical abuse,’ and some businesses, I’m sure, feel they’re necessary, but it really does put a negative stigma in people’s minds about what the community is like. Especially if you’re new to the community.” Paula continued by saying “There’s lots of things people can be doing, but one of the things that comes up quite a lot is waving in traffic. It can be kind of frustrating when someone doesn’t wave to say thank you, and it can make such a significant difference to your morning or afternoon when you have that positive exchange between two drivers.”