Lockeport closes in on goal for new playground unit
Lockeport Elementary School’s playground has the usual assortment of swings and slides for kids to play on. But one day Sonya Elliott looked out over the playground and wondered if it could offer more.
She and a group of Lockeport parents got together last February and organized the Lockeport Playground Fundraising Group. The group – which includes Elliott, Shauna Cotter-Brown, Tanya Snow, Mary Richardson, Holly Harding and Stacey Garron – began to raise money for a new playground unit.
But these units are expensive. By July 23, the group had raised a remarkable $25,000, enough to purchase the unit and have it shipped. The play unit is multi-coloured, with slides and monkey bars and is designed for children ages two to 12 years.
To begin raising money the group started with an online auction, auctioning off an assortment of donated items. Other fundraising activities have included 50-50 draws, bingo nights, a barbecue, an Easter dance and Easter egg hunt, even a door-to-door bottle drive.
While much of the generosity came from Lockeport residents and businesses, the fundraiser has also attracted donations from Shelburne County and beyond.
“We’ve had a lot of support from Shelburne, and we’ve had a lot of support from areas close by,” Elliott explains. “But even companies that are in Meteghan and Woods Harbour and Halifax have helped us out.”
Elliott says most of the auction items were donated by individuals wanting to pitch in.
“We’ve had fishermen go out and purchase brand new traps for us to auction off,” Cotter-Brown adds.
The group was also invited to benefit from several other community events, like the Crescent Beach Auto Show in July, which donated all proceeds to the Lockeport playground group, and the Lockeport Open Golf Tournament, held at River Hills Golf and Country Club in Clyde River in August. The winning team chose the Lockeport playground group to receive $1,000 in proceeds from the golf tournament.
“We have a great community here,” Snow notes.
Once $25,000 was raised, still more money was needed to cover installation costs.
“We have to pay a contractor to come in and do the groundwork, and to install the equipment, put it together and sign off on it (to meet regulations),” Elliott explains. That cost is about $5,000.
The group recently conducted a bottle drive.
The group has also been running an Epicure fundraiser featuring three different kits to choose from. Anyone wanting to place an order can contact one of the group’s members.
As of mid-September, the group was only $2,900 away from having the unit set up and inspected. Their goal is to have it installed by November, before winter weather sets in and the ground freezes.
Anyone wanting to make a donation can mail it to the Lockeport Playground Society, P.O. Box 527, Lockeport, NS, B0T 1L0.
For more information, visit the Lockeport Playground Fundraising Group’s Facebook page.