With nearly 80 per cent of funding for a new playground now secured, students at West Sechelt Elementary School are celebrating the important donors who have gotten them this far and setting a date to break ground.
New plaques designed by students in grades 1 to 3 were hung on the fence at the school this week in honour of those donors who have given $1,000 or more to the $125,000 playground project to date.
Local businesses like C-Me Pedestrian Reflectors, Mason Place, The Coast Group and Sunshine Coast Credit Union pledged $1,000 each to the project when prompted by local business owners Erin and Ross Storey of SUNCO Building Materials to meet or beat their company's $1,000 gift late last year.
Other businesses, groups and governments have also stepped up to the plate, donating several thousand dollars to the cause.
"Now we have close to $100,000 and we're working to secure about $10,000 worth of in-kind work, which leaves us with about $15,000 left to fundraise," said West Sechelt Playground Enhancement Committee (WSPEC) chair Sue Shinn. "We have a few fundraisers coming up that we're confident in, so we've set a tentative date to start construction on the weekend of June 6 before the kids are out of school for the summer."
Committee members feel so strongly that they'll reach their goal, they've already put a deposit on the playground equipment with Swingtime Distributors Ltd.
The new accessible playground will add onto the current school's playground with a rubberized ground cover, an accessible clubhouse, sensory and music panels, talking tubes, a play structure with a double slide, a stand-up teeter totter, sit and spin seats, a tandem bouncer and some low monkey bars.
Members of the playground enhancement committee have been fundraising for the addition since 2011.
The next fundraiser committee members are banking on is their Ladies' Night event on March 28 at the Sunshine Coast Botanical Garden from 7 to 10 p.m.
For a $25 ticket and a bottle of wine, guests will receive a variety of pampering services like massage and nail treatments while enjoying music, appetizers, drinks and a fresh fruit chocolate fountain. Guests can also sample wares from a variety of local vendors who will be there, bid on some big ticket prizes like a helicopter ride for two and try to win a portion of the wall of wine, which will be stocked with 125 bottles.
Tickets go on sale next week at Trail Bay Source for Sports, Petro Canada in Sechelt and West Sechelt Elementary School.
"We hope lots of women will come enjoy this special evening with their friends knowing, their participation will get us that much closer to building the playground," Shinn said.
The committee estimates the event could raise over $5,000.
To find out more about the playground project and the committee's other upcoming fundraisers, see www.westsecheltplayground.com, email [email protected] or follow the West Sechelt Playground Enhancement Committee on Facebook. Shinn can also be contacted at 604-740-2372 for more information.
