Annual church safety poster contest open for young artists

Church youth groups and young artists across the country once again have the opportunity to display their creativity and awareness of church safety in GuideOne Insurance’s annual “Keeping America’s Churches Safe” poster and calendar contest.

Hosted by the GuideOne Center for Risk Management, the contest encourages youth to draw, color or paint pieces of artwork that represent important safety and security issues in churches. Entrants have the chance to win $50 if their drawing is selected as one of 13 pictures to be displayed in the 2013 calendar.

Posters should depict a situation focusing on travel safety, fire prevention, storm and weather preparation, playground and playroom rules, youth camp safety, protecting elderly members or other church safety and security scenarios. “The contest is a great way to engage children in a fun project that encourages both church involvement and safety awareness,” said Eric Spacek, senior manager of risk management and loss control at GuideOne.

Artists must be under the age of 18 to enter, and pictures should be drawn horizontally on an 8 ½ by 11-inch sheet of paper. A separate sheet of paper with the artist’s full name, age, phone number, personal mailing address and church name should be included with each entry. 

Entries should be created with materials like crayons, markers or paint. 

No three-dimensional, electronically created, glued or stapled posters will be accepted. Pictures should be mailed in a large envelope since entries may not be folded or creased.

All entries must be postmarked by July 31, 2012, to be eligible for judging. Please mail entries to GuideOne Insurance, Attn: Natalie McCormick, 1111 Ashworth Road, West Des Moines, IA 50265. 

The 13 winners will be announced by mid-August. Each winner will receive a $50 check and have their artwork featured in the 2013 “Keeping America’s Churches Safe” calendar, of which they all will receive 10 copies to share with friends and family. 

Founded in 1947 and headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa, GuideOne Insurance is one of the nation’s largest church insurers, with about 43,000 church policyholders. For more information, visit GuideOne.com. 

(GuideOne)