21 Sep Harvesting Capabilities Meets Community Foundation Match
Left to right: HC Park Committee member, Mary Shaffer, and her son, Carter, Carol Biddle and Cheryl Lee of Harvesting Capabilities, MCCF Director of Development Connie Cutler, Sue Gulley and Mary Ann Farnham of Harvesting Capabilities, MCCF board member Rita Jackson, and Sandy Chittum and Brian Ege of Harvesting Capabilities
In June of this year, the Miami County Community Foundation (MCCF) offered $10,000 in matching dollars for gifts made to the Harvesting Capabilities Park project (HC Park), and the match has already been met! The dollars will help Harvesting Capabilities to reach their goal of raising $120,000 to build “a park for all,” which will be accessible to children with or without disabilities.
Connie Cutler, MCCF Director of Development said, “We are always looking for a way to partner with our non-profits in the important work that they do, and we felt that using our Impact Grant of $10,000 as a match would enable them to raise double the amount that we could award. And that has proven true in just a short time!”
Mary Courtney Shaffer, a parent of a child with disabilities, is serving on the HC Park committee and is thrilled that the $10,000 match has been met. She shared, “I am so excited for this all-inclusive playground to come to our community because my son, Carter, will be able to have fun and interact on a playground with kids of all abilities! He has Cerebral Palsy and seizures, and I have taken him to playgrounds and have had to follow him and hold on to him to make sure he is safe on the equipment. There aren’t many places or pieces of equipment that he can actually play on, so he gets quite frustrated. With the new HC Park, I will be able to take him there along with his brother and have them enjoy the park together!”
The all-inclusive park will be adjacent to Miami’s Fort on the Riverwalk in Peru. The Harvesting Capabilities Playground Committee has set a goal of July 4, 2019 for the completion of the project.
The park will be strategically built to be inclusive to those who are confined to a wheelchair and those with physical, sensory, vision, hearing, and autistic challenges. The park will be beneficial for the health, development, growth of social skills, and self-confidence of park-goers. Details about the plan for the park can be found at harvestingcapabilities.org/all-inclusive-playground.
The annual Miami’s Heartland Chili Cook-Off is Saturday, October 6, 11:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. at the Peru Riverwalk. All proceeds will support the HC Park project.
You can give a gift to the project at https://harvestingcapabilities.org. Simply click “Donate Now,” and in the note section, indicate that you’d like your gift to support the HC (Harvesting Capabilities) Park. You can also send a check to Harvesting Capabilities, Inc., 231 N Grant St., Peru, Indiana 46970. Note “HC Park” in the memo.
To learn more about the project and purchase a brick for the playground, click “All-Inclusive Playground” on their website.
Questions? Contact Harvesting Capabilities Executive Director Carol Biddle at 765-472-1902.