The money generously donated by the Gibsons Lions Club is going to help complete Gibsons Elementary School’s accessible playground project. Last May, Gibsons Elementary marked the official opening of its new $14 million school for students in Gibsons. But the playground equipment from the old school was many decades old.
For the past three years, the task of planning for and raising money for a playground has been taken up by a group of parents at the school, led by the school’s parent advisory council. Approximately $50,000 raised by the parent group through community donations and fundraising efforts was used last year to complete the first phase project – including installing equipment for a kindergarten play area, as well as a disc swing and net spinner.
For the completion phase of the project, parents at the school are raising money to purchase several exciting new pieces of equipment and install a rubberized surface, which is key to making it accessible to children with mobility challenges. In 2015, the playground project got an especially big boost with the news the school was successful in being awarded a $50,000 federal grant to help the playground become more disabled-accessible. That grant comes with a deadline that project be completed by the summer of 2016.
Parents have doubled their efforts to see the project is completed on time and are grateful to community organizations such as the Gibsons Lions Club for stepping up to ensure that happens.
Anyone who wants more information or who would like to help with the playground project can contact Kim McEachren, chair of the Gibsons Elementary School Parents Advisory Council, at [email protected] or 604-741-3503, or principal Deborah Luporini at Gibsons Elementary School, 604-886-2612.
