Special day

It was one year ago today that Master Corporal Scott Vernelli lost his life while fighting for peace in Afghanistan.

At time of writing (11 a.m. Saturday), Queen Elizabeth Public School has slipped from second into fourth place in its effort to win a grant to help establish a MCpl. Scott Vernelli Playground in Sault Ste. Marie.

The school has entered a North America-wide competition that awards cash for new playground equipment and it's a very tight race.

All four top runners are close with only a 707-vote difference between Queen Elizabeth Public School and the top runner at time of writing.

Voting closes at the end of the month so SooToday.com readers have just over a week to help establish the MCpl. Scott Vernelli Playground on the Queen Elizabeth Public School site.

If the East End school winds up first, it will receive $5,000 in new equipment from KaBoom!, an organization dedicated to creating great playspaces.

SooToday.com readers can keep things moving in the right direction by voting here every day until the end of the month.

The second-place finisher will get $3,000 and $1,000 will go to the third-place entrant.

Earlier SooToday.com coverage of this story

Let's do this to properly honour MCpl. Scott Vernelli! Let's keep the ball rolling for this Sault school