A Wheelchair Accessible Playground

My daughter Juliet is turning 4 years old on Saturday! In honor of her birthday, I’ve created this fundraiser to try to raise money to remodel the playground at Seven Oaks Elementary School (where she is currently a student in the Preschool program). Juliet is a wheelchair user and unfortunately, the playgrounds at her school are not at all wheelchair accessible. She is not the only wheelchair user at her school, and I'm certain she will not be the last. I know that many children will continue to benefit from this undertaking for years to come. The PTA already has some funds it would like to allocate towards remodeling the playground, but we have a long way to go if we are to have enough funds to make a meaningful difference in how inclusive and accessible the playground is for students of all abilities. My hope is that my daughter and other children who use wheelchairs, walkers, or forearm crutches will be able to play alongside their friends. For this to happen, the playground needs to be resurfaced, which is very expensive. I know this is a very ambitious goal. This is a huge sum of money to try to raise. Believe me, I've thought many times about throwing in the towel on the whole idea before even getting started. But, I feel like I owe it to my daughter to at least try to bring about change. As the Chinese Proverb says, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. I promise even one more accessible playground makes a difference and is a step in the right direction toward a more inclusive world.

The funds that I am able to raise will be donated to the Seven Oaks PTA and it will be set aside for the playground.

If you’d rather donate directly to the PTA, I can get you in touch with our Treasurer, just please let it be known that the donation is to go towards the accessible playground.

Thank you to all who choose to make a difference. And if you would consider sharing this with your friends, we’d be grateful for that as well.

Katie Stewart