$32,000!

Our church had a congregational meeting on Sunday to discuss many things, one of them being Sully's playground. At this meeting, the new total of funds raised by Sully's fund was announced and my mouth dropped open. I was floored to hear that $32,000 had been donated to help us build our boy's special place! I am overwhelmed with gratitude for such generosity and kindness.

In the days following Sully's death, our church came to us with a Memorandum of Understanding. They gave their full support to the playground offering to borrow quite a bit to make sure it could be started very soon. I was so touched by their commitment to making this playground happen even though the church has so many immediate and pressing needs since the acquisition of our building. While it feels good to have their safety net under us, I still hope to raise as much of the cost of the project as possible. And, wow, we are over halfway there!

Making it to this point so quickly allows us to mobilize the troops, get bids, and set dates for work to be done. Yesterday, I met with the other members of our church playground committee that have worked in helping us to make this playground a reality. We hope to begin clearing the space around the middle of March in preparation for the playground equipment to be installed around early April. Here's what you want to know - on Saturday, April 19th from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m (just one week after our fundraiser at JWTumbles)we are having a community planting day for all of those who want to come and help and get their hands dirty. Our incredible landscape architect, Ann Stokes, will be directing our efforts as we plant all of the shrubs and flowering plants around the patios and sidewalks of the play space. I can't tell you how excited I am about all of this! It's really happening! My little Sully's playground is not far from being a reality!