New playground on the horizon

By Rechell McDonald
A new playground is just within reach for Whitecourt Central School which, with the aid of the Whitecourt EPIC Society, is now even closer to their goal.
EPIC president Nicky Birtles said, “Basically we have been focusing our fundraising on the playground for two years now. We are about $5,000 away from our goal of $110,000.”
An application for a government grant has been made for the remaining funding, but Birtles has no intention of relying on that to meet the final goal. Tear down of the old playground is scheduled for the end of this school year and it is hoped that construction of the new playground will begin in July.
But where did all the cash come from? A lot of hard work. “We made $33,000 from our EPIC Night Out in January and $36,000 from our Travel Raffle. We are very thankful to the parents who have worked so hard to fundraise, the companies that donated to our EPIC Night Out and the donations we have received from various businesses around our community,” explains Birtles.
With $5,000 left to go, there is still some fundraising needed to ensure the school can afford all the costs associated with the tear down and new construction. If you are interested in making a donation to help the school through the home stretch, you can contact Nicky Birtles and the EPIC Society through EPIC’s Facebook Page.