Over the past few months, the committee in charge of the playground fund for East Lake School has been hard at work to ensure kids attending the brand new school for the 2014-2015 school year will have somewhere to play. The Chestermere East Lake School will have a capacity of 900 students, will teach Kindergarten to Grade 9, and will also offer French Immersion.
There are many different ways that the community can come together to donate toward this fund. The first, are “in-kind” donations, which are donations of time and materials from corporations or volunteers aged 18 and older. If you make an in-kind donation then you will get a tax receipt for what the donation would have cost. Friends of Chestermere East Lake School Society has applied for a matching grant from the government who will match up to $25,000 of in-kind donations, depending on whether their application is approved. New schools all across Canada apply for grants such as this in order to fund for playgrounds, therefore it is with fingers crossed and a positive attitude that will make the committee successful in achieving the matching grant. The next step of this process is to submit the final application with the proposed in-kind donations with letters from the people who are donating the labour and material. “Time is of the essence,” Treasurer Lana Gohring states, as this will be submitted between the end of February and the beginning of March.
Lisa McAllister, a member of the planning committee, believes that funding for this playground means more than just a place to play during recess. “It’s the ability to allow the students as well as the kids in the community to use the playground for exercise and activities, it’s a chance to get children unplugged,” says McAllister. Installing a playground at the school will give the entire new subdivision, called Kinniburgh, a chance to have their own local place to play.
Between now and June, the committee needs to raise over $250,000 in order to purchase the playground for the opening of East Lake School in September. If all goes well, the playground should be ready for use by the second or third week of the same month. Corporations who donate over $25,000 will be recognized with a bench dedicated to them in the playground, and contributions over $5,000 will be recognized on a plaque in the playground.
Although the committee has conducted bottle drives for the cause, events such as a game night or casino are not allowed under the restrictions of the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Act, which states that they are not able to do so until the doors of the school itself are open. McAllister says that’s been the only real struggle they have had up to this point. “We have so many parents who are dedicated to make this happen, and I know it’s not going to be a problem,” she beams, “we have a great head start…I think we are going to hit the ground running.”
If you know of a corporation who would like to help by either funding or donating labour and materials, or if you have any other inquiries, you can contact Lana Gohring at eastlakeschoolsociety@gmail.com.
