|
|
|
The park that will be boundless remains groundless. But those leading the effort for a playground in Conway Springs for disabled and non-disabled kids alike are not deterred. Fundraisers for Dilly's Place continue to bring in money, the total amount raised is just under $27,000.
"We started with $20 and a prayer and have come a long way," said Cheryl Kelly, who is one of the leaders for the playground's cause. Kelly said there are two possible landing spots for Dilly's Place.
"We have two groups trying to find us a spot still, one group we're hoping is getting ready to vote on it," Kelly explained. "And we haven't heard anything from the city lately..." Kelly said the city has talked of putting the park south of town near the baseball fields. The Conway Springs Mayor was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.
The other group she mentioned is talking about a privately owned area to build Dilly's Place. Kelly, who has an autistic grandson, remains optimistic the plan for the playground can stay on the original three year timeline.
"We're still hoping for that, but until we get a spot we really can't start putting in for grants," Kelly said. "So that's our major thing right now is finding a spot." From golf tournaments to raffles, Dilly's Place fundraisers take place at least once a month or every other month. At the recent Dilly's Place Golf Tournament, nearly $3,200 were brought in.
"Then we had a company match us up to $2,500- The Woodman Group," Kelly mentioned. She said the golf outing was a blast. Support has come from various sources for Dilly's Place. A sixth-grader made "tons" of fleece blankets to help raise money for the project, the little girl also raised a thousand dollars by baking cookies during lent.
"We've just got a lot of people involved..." Kelly said. Dilly's Place has even gotten support from businesses in Wellington as well. Future fundraising ventures include a taco feed at Conway Springs' Fall Festival during the last week of September. Kelly said they are even planning a Bunco game night.
"We're hoping we'll get about 10 to 12 teams, there's four people on a team and each team would pay 80 dollars to be in," she said. "And we'll have prizes donated."
Kelly said she has utilized the social networking super-giant Facebook.com to help spread the word about Dilly's Place. Kelly couldn't be happier with what's come from using the website.
"It's really a good network," Kelly exclaimed. "That's where we get a lot of our donations from...the community really pitches in and helps. And people that aren't even in our community." Dilly's Place needs all the support it can muster on the way to the $500,000 goal for the project.
To contact Dilly's Place organizers, emails can be sent to dillysplace@rocketmail.com. Cheryl Kelly can answer further inquiries about Dilly's Place and can be reached at 620-456-2123. Also checkout facebook.com and search "Dilly's Place."
"There's going to be nothing in Sumner County that's going to compare to this," Kelly said.
The park that will be boundless remains groundless. But those leading the effort for a playground in Conway Springs for disabled and non-disabled kids alike are not deterred. Fundraisers for Dilly's Place continue to bring in money, the total amount raised is just under $27,000.
"We started with $20 and a prayer and have come a long way," said Cheryl Kelly, who is one of the leaders for the playground's cause. Kelly said there are two possible landing spots for Dilly's Place.
"We have two groups trying to find us a spot still, one group we're hoping is getting ready to vote on it," Kelly explained. "And we haven't heard anything from the city lately..." Kelly said the city has talked of putting the park south of town near the baseball fields. The Conway Springs Mayor was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.
The other group she mentioned is talking about a privately owned area to build Dilly's Place. Kelly, who has an autistic grandson, remains optimistic the plan for the playground can stay on the original three year timeline.
"We're still hoping for that, but until we get a spot we really can't start putting in for grants," Kelly said. "So that's our major thing right now is finding a spot." From golf tournaments to raffles, Dilly's Place fundraisers take place at least once a month or every other month. At the recent Dilly's Place Golf Tournament, nearly $3,200 were brought in.
"Then we had a company match us up to $2,500- The Woodman Group," Kelly mentioned. She said the golf outing was a blast. Support has come from various sources for Dilly's Place. A sixth-grader made "tons" of fleece blankets to help raise money for the project, the little girl also raised a thousand dollars by baking cookies during lent.
"We've just got a lot of people involved..." Kelly said. Dilly's Place has even gotten support from businesses in Wellington as well. Future fundraising ventures include a taco feed at Conway Springs' Fall Festival during the last week of September. Kelly said they are even planning a Bunco game night.
"We're hoping we'll get about 10 to 12 teams, there's four people on a team and each team would pay 80 dollars to be in," she said. "And we'll have prizes donated."
Kelly said she has utilized the social networking super-giant Facebook.com to help spread the word about Dilly's Place. Kelly couldn't be happier with what's come from using the website.
"It's really a good network," Kelly exclaimed. "That's where we get a lot of our donations from...the community really pitches in and helps. And people that aren't even in our community." Dilly's Place needs all the support it can muster on the way to the $500,000 goal for the project.
To contact Dilly's Place organizers, emails can be sent to dillysplace@rocketmail.com. Cheryl Kelly can answer further inquiries about Dilly's Place and can be reached at 620-456-2123. Also checkout facebook.com and search "Dilly's Place."
"There's going to be nothing in Sumner County that's going to compare to this," Kelly said.
