Posted by civen October 20, 2008 6:23PM
Samantha Furco, of Phoenix, sits at Schroeppel Town Park. Thanks to her efforts, the town has provided land for a playground for children with disabilities.Samantha Furco, a senior at J.C. Birdlebough High School in Phoenix, wrote the following for Voices.Do you have a dream you fear you will never be able to pursue?
Well let me just tell you something: Anything can be done that you put your mind and heart to.
Right now, I’m in the middle of a huge project that, in my eyes, I would have never thought I could do. One day I knew that I needed to do it, because no one else would have.
I came across a little boy watching the other children play on the playground. It’s not that he didn’t want to play. It’s that he couldn’t. He used a wheelchair and the playground was not accessible to children with disabilities.
Help Samantha’s cause
Those who want to contribute to the construction of a playground for disabled children in the Phoenix area should contact Samantha Furco at S.furco@yahoo.com or 857-8762. to:
• Contribute money
• Contribute a used item to be sold at a planned charity sale
• Get tickets to a spaghetti dinner fundraiser from 2 to 5 p.m. Nov. 2 at R.F.H.’s Hide-A-Way, 1058 County Route 57, Phoenix. The cost is $7 in advance.
That’s when I knew I had to do something about this. I started doing a lot of research – on fundraising, community organizing and suitable playground equipment. I realized I knew I could do it if I could just get someone to donate a site.It took me over a year to find land and get people to take me serious.
Things started happening after I contacted The Post-Standard. After an article on me came out, I received a phone call from the Town Supervisor, he asked me to attend a board meeting. I attended that board meeting and they all agreed to donate a piece of their land next to an existing playground.
After people started reading the articles and knew that I had received the land, they took me a lot more seriously!
Now I am currently in the fundraising process, but am really excited about it.
The playground is going to cost about $70,000 but I know in my heart that I will be able to do it. I hope to see the construction done by the end of next summer, ribbon cutting and everything.
The hardest part about this was getting adults to take me seriously. I am 17. People need to realize that not all kids my age are in the newspaper for bad reasons.
