2021-09-15

Play park fundraising goal surpassed, though fundraising continues

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The committee tasked with raising funds for a Universally Designed Play Park has reason to celebrate. Last week the members surpassed their goal of raising $450,000 which was established five years ago.

"It just blows my mind. I'm so proud of the community," said Debbie J. Wamboldt, the committee's chair."It's exciting, but I don't think it has fully set in yet. It's kind of one of those things that's surreal after all this time."

The Universally Designed Play Park will be located in Milton near the Queens Place Emera Centre and will be built for use by all ages and all abilities using the seven principles of universal design.

The $450,000 funding goal was surpassed thanks to a massive effort this past summer by the community of Liverpool and surrounding areas.

Giving the effort a further boost was a donor who wished to remain anonymous while offering to match any funds donated during the month of August, according to Wamboldt. The offer prompted other community members to donate an additional $44,643, which pushed the total raised close to $460,000.

However, the $450,000 goal was set pre-COVID, and the fundraising won't stop there.

"We had that goal, but with COVID-19 costs have increased, so we're going to continue to fundraise for now, and we're going to build to whatever we have raised," said Wamboldt.

Recently the Liverpool Tim Hortons restaurant designated the play park as the recipient of money raised through its smile cookie campaign slated for September 13 to 19.

There is also a community yard sale scheduled for September 18, and a plant swap planned for September 25 and to be at Milton Memorial Hall. Ongoing is the bottle depot donation effort at Queen's Recycling Centre, where supporters can donate their bottle proceeds to the park. Meanwhile, the committee will continue to accept standard monetary donations as well.

According to Wamboldt, the hope is that tenders for construction of the park can go out within the next couple of months.