BRUNSWICK, Ohio — A Cleveland suburb is working toward an accessible playground, and one family is doing its part with the plenty of fundraising to be done.
The City of Brunswick resolved to set aside $175,000 for a special needs-inclusive playground at Neura Park, but that’s just a portion of the expected $300-400,000 the city will need to break ground.
Local families have stepped in to help, like Amanda Burke and her five-year-old daughter, Mikayla Dwulat.
“I just thought, you know what, I want to contribute as well,” said Burke. “I asked Mikayla and that’s what she wanted to do too. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to give back to the community that we’ve lived in forever.”
Burke has a passion for gardening and is sharing that with her daughter.
“We eat very healthy, so I also wanted to be able to let her add onto the passion that I have, and learn about growing her own vegetables,” she said. “I have a lot of vegetables here.”
She decided to start a vegetable stand and donate the proceeds to the city’s new special needs accessible playground.
They initially set a goal to raise $1,000, but since announcing their stand, community members have already donated $1,300. Mikayla helped her mom set a new goal of $2,028.
Burke said this is an opportunity to support their community, but also a teachable moment.
“I want her to be able to understand that there are kids that are just as perfect as her in their own ways and they may need a little bit of help on the playground,” she said. “They may need a little bit of help in the classroom.”
The mother and daughter plan to host their veggie stand in their front yard each Monday until it’s time for Dwulat to go to kindergarten.
