Just in time for spring, fundraising plans for a Breslau splash park are beginning to bud with a new committee at the helm and some donations already rolling in.
“I think people are really excited because they would like to know what’s going to be done. I think people are really looking forward to it – it’s something that is not only needed in the community but really wanted. With the great weather there are so many kids playing outside and this would just be a great facility for them,” said JoAnna Brunnenmeir, Breslau Lions Club member and co-chair of the splash pad committee.
Residents already had a chance to vote on their favourite of three designs for the pad during Breslau’s Family Fun Day last June. Based on popular demand – a new committee which formed after the main organizers moved away from Breslau last year – went with an airplane theme for the park by Open Space Solutions Inc. The park is tentatively planned to be built near the Breslau Community Centre.
“The people heading up the committee moved to Newfoundland so starting in November we had a new committee. The splash pad has been designed and certain commitments have been made but we didn’t really get a chance to start our fundraising campaign until November when we took over,” Brunnenmeir said.
After catching up on the details, the committee is ready to start knocking on the doors of corporate donors hoping to glean most of the funds in this manner, but also looking at grants and private donations.
“We have a packaged design we are ready to present to donors. Mostly we are starting with approaching corporations. We have received at least one grant already. We are just ready now to go and start talking to donors. We think we are in a really good place,” she said. “We’re really ready to go full force, buy the end of May for sure we’ll be knocking on doors.”
Ideas for the pad initially came out of an attempt to diversify one of Ontario’s fastest-growing communities, Brunnenmeir added, with an emphasis on the Lions Club’s goal of catering to families and kids.
“It could be the fastest growing community in Ontario. There are still plans for thousands of new homes over the next ten years and we just don’t have any facilities like [the splash pad]. The park is older and so we just thought because this is such a young community, with young families here, this would be a perfect project to tackle.”
To offset the approximately $350,000 cost of the project, organizers also hope some companies will come forward with donation offers for labour or materials.
The committee hopes to launch its new website this weekend where visitors can get more information or make donations online. For more information look for www.breslaugrandsplash.ca.
