There are many organizations and projects around the country aimed at making things as inclusive as possible. In the Castle Country Area, one of those projects is the Helper Express Inclusive Playground, which aims to create a space for those of all abilities to enjoy.

Castle Country Radio sat down with Valorie Marietti from the Helper Express Playground committee to talk about some recent exciting news and how to get involved with the project.

Opening up our discussion, Marietti explained what the idea for the inclusive playground was centered around,” there is a playground right now that is in Helper on Locust Street. It’s pretty torn up and old. We will be revamping that whole area to make it wheelchair accessible and available to anybody that has any type of mobility issues, including just your typical children.”

Over the summer, the playground has received donations from organizations not just state and locally-based, but also some national organizations, namely the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, who donated $25,000 to the project. The most recent donation however came from the Larry H. and Gail Miller Foundation as a $10,000 matching grant. “We’re finally getting some traction now, and we feel like we’re on our way.” Said Marietti.

“Now, this is a matching grant,” explained Marietti,” which means we must show them that we’ve raised an additional $10,000 … We have drawing tickets for sale. We’ve had quite a few excellent donations, and we will be holding the drawing for this on September 28th.”

Prizes for this drawing include:

• .22 Rifle donated by David Palacios- Candidate for Carbon County Commissioner
• Gun case and ammo case donated by Amanda McIntosh
• A baby/toddler quilt donated by the Carbon County Senior Citizens Group
• Gray granite headstone donated by Marietti Monuments
• Headstone cleaning and painting donated by Saving Graves Utah
• Trust and will consultation donated by Nathanial Woodward
• Two donations of $100 cash

Tickets for this drawing are available at Marietti Monuments, WaFd Bank or through Venmo, Payal and Square under the username FriendsofHelper. Tickets are $1, or 10 for $9. 

You can also contribute to this program in other ways, including the Walmart roundup program which allows you to round up your purchase to the nearest dollar and donate to a charity of your choosing when shopping on the Walmart app or website.

So far, the playground has raised about $100,000, but Marietti stated that in total the playground would cost about $300,000. To learn more about the Helper Express playground, they can be found on Facebook, where they share updates regarding the playground and share donations that they receive.