J&G Group donates $67K toward accessible playground

Westman Dreams for Kids’ ambition to build an accessible playground at the Riverbank Discovery Centre got a big boost on Tuesday.

J&G Group made a surprise donation of $67,000 — half of the expected $134,000 cost of the playground.

When built, the playground will have activities and structures designed for kids with mobility disabilities using wheelchairs and for kids on the autism spectrum.

It will be located between the existing playground structure at the site and the picnic shelter.

Angie Ball of WDFK said she was visiting J&G to present the business with a plaque to commemorate their support for her organization when CEO Jared Jacobson pulled out a cheque.

“I was beside myself,” Ball said of hearing about the donation for the first time.

She said she first got the idea for an accessible playground when a supporter sent her a message on?Instagram after hearing about a fundraiser in Winnipeg for a special swing that wheelchairs can be attached to.

However, she wanted to fundraise for an entire playground, not just a single item.

A 3D rendering of the proposed area includes a wheelchair-accessible merry-go-round and a wheelchair-accessible teeter totter.

“We heard Westman Dreams for Kids was short on funding for the Accessibility Park which they were hoping to have completed by the end of May of 2020,” Jacobson said in an email to the Sun.

“This Accessibility Park is the first of it’s kind in Westman and we felt this project would help benefit children in need for generations to come.”

For the rest of the funding, Ball said that WDFK has applied for several grants and are waiting to hear if their applications were successful.

“There’s one big one we’re hoping to get in the new year,” Ball said.

WDFK first announced they were looking to build the playground in a mid-October Facebook video, saying they were going to start fundraising.

Riverbank?Discovery Centre general manager James Montgomery said that he’d first discussed the idea of an accessible playground in October of 2018. Talks became serious within the last two or three months.

“Our board, our staff and the community is 100 per cent behind this project,” Montgomery said. “We are always looking for new things to add down here and the accessibility feature of this playground is really valuable.”

He added that he believes the aim is to have the park completed for use by the time WDFK holds its annual Children’s Country Fair in late spring.

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