Will the top prize of $1,500 go to a Catholic youth group the in Comox Valley for the highest number of hits for their YouTube video in the Youth Voices Challenge?

The video must have a teaching of Jesus as its theme and receive the highest number of hits in its category by July 14 at 1 p.m. The youth must be aged 13 to 19 and must produce their videos in a group of three to five members.

The group鈥檚 three- to five-minute videos must be based on one or more of Jesus鈥� teachings 鈥� as quoted by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John 鈥� as they appear on the Catholic Foundation of Vancouver Island鈥檚 website at  www.catholicfoundationofvancouverisland.org.

Registration deadline for the competition is March 11. The competition鈥檚 rules and registration form are available on the foundation鈥檚 website.

The Youth Voices Challenge has a second prize of $1,000 and a third prize of $500. An additional prize of $1,000 will be awarded in a 鈥渟ame-parish鈥� group category. This prize will be given to one Catholic parish.

To qualify for this prize, all of the members of a group must belong to the same parish, and the group鈥檚 video must get the most number of 鈥渉its鈥� in this 鈥渟ame-parish鈥� group category.

Youth in each group can use Facebook, Twitter, texting messages, e-mail, and other media to encourage their family and friends to view their videos on YouTube to gain the most number of hits up until the deadline of July 14 at 1 p.m. local time.

There are 90,000 Catholics in the Victoria diocese (comprising 28 parishes across Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands) and there are  more than 9,000 Catholic students who attend public schools and various independent schools not associated with the Catholic Church. Another 1,000 attend Island Catholic schools.

The Youth Voices Challenge is sponsored by the Catholic Foundation of Vancouver Island in collaboration with the Diocese of Victoria鈥檚 Office of Religious Education.

鈥� Catholic Foundation of Vancouver Island