If you missed the chance to help Frisco moms raise money for Hope Park Frisco with the very cute Ducky Palooza fundraiser (a rubber duck race and “duckorating” pageant in Frisco), Valerie Wigglesworth’s story shows there are still things you can do to bring the dream of this inclusive, 15,000-square-foot playground that welcomes kids with special needs to reality.
You can volunteer your time for Build Week April 5-14 (volunteers must be 12 or older, childcare is available for parents), and you can buy a fence picket, an engraved brick for the park. One of my favorite options is buying a picture book written by the group’s grant writer, Kristan Olfers: One Park for All. The book, available at Simply Blessed Flowers and Gifts (5757 Warren Parkway, Frisco; 214-618-4994) or online at hopeparkfrisco.org, brings the concept of inclusion in an affecting way that kids (and everyone else) can understand. It’s a great way to prep your child for an outing at the new park. Plus, every bit helps as the moms try to raise the last $54,000 of its $674,000 goal.
Kids with special needs struggle with obesity at twice the rate of their neurotypical peers; Special Olympics CEO Timothy Shriver told me last year that’s because they don’t have the same opportunities to exercise as other kids do. This park should be a welcome step in a healthy direction. I also think it’s cool how this will give kids with special needs and neurotypical ones a chance to find out how much fun they can have together — just being kids.
The park opens May 11.