Five Kootenai County mayors walked for grant money in October

The mayors of Dalton Gardens, Fernan Lake Village, Hayden, Rathdrum and Spirit Lake took part in a statewide step challenge that pays cities $500 or $1,000.

Five Kootenai County mayors spent October counting steps, and their cities get grant money for it.

The Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health said Monday that 123 Idaho mayors finished its Mayor's Walking Challenge this year. The foundation will send $113,350 to their communities. Both numbers are the highest since the challenge began in 2014.

WHO WALKED HERE

The Coeur d'Alene Press listed these Kootenai County mayors among the 39 from North Idaho who took part:

- Curt Jernigan, Dalton Gardens
- Ray Watkins, Fernan Lake Village
- Alan Davis, Hayden
- John Hodgkins, Rathdrum
- Charlene Phipps, Spirit Lake

HOW THE MONEY WORKS

- A mayor who walks 165,000 steps in October, an average of 5,000 a day, earns $500 for the city.
- A mayor who walks 310,000 steps, an average of 10,000 a day, earns $1,000.
- This year every mayor who took part gets $25 more, for the foundation's 25th anniversary.

The foundation says the money goes to things that help people stay active, such as playgrounds, school gym equipment, park features and scholarships for youth programs.

THE BIGGER NUMBERS

- Mayors from 43 of Idaho's 44 counties earned money this year.
- The challenge has returned $919,900 to Idaho communities in 13 years.
- It started in the Treasure Valley and went statewide in 2018.

WHAT WE DO NOT KNOW YET

The foundation's announcement does not list what each city earned, so we cannot say which of the five mayors reached the $1,000 level, or what each city plans to spend it on.