The Friends of the Helper Area Fundraiser are hosting an evening of dancing and silent auction for the Helper Express Playground project. This family friendly event will take place on Saturday, March 18 at 8:00 pm at the Helper Civic Auditorium and everyone in the community is invited.
The Friends of the Helper Area fundraising group is a 501(c) non-profit organization that was established in 2021. “We didn’t want to be specific to just this playground project, we wanted it to be this project and then hopefully future projects, so we named it the Friends of the Helper Area. Our current project right now, our Helper Express Playground will be on Locust Street. If you’ve been up there on Locust Street you know there’s already a playground there. We will be updating all of that to be an all-inclusive playground which means kids of all different mobility levels will be able to play there,” stated Project Coordinator, Valarie Marietti. This will be a wonderful facility to be offered in our community to allow those with mobility issues to have as a place of their own.
“We got our first fundraiser, we’re going to be at the Helper Auditorium on March 18 from 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm. Ruben’s BBQ has been nice enough, they are going to be bringing their food truck there. We have some donations, we’re going to be doing a silent auction. We have a deejay, you can come out, request the songs that you like, that you want to dance to. If you would like more information visit my Facebook page its called Helper Express Playground,” explained Marietti. Music will be provided by DJ Tone and the tickets to attend the event are a suggested donation of $20.00 per person. Marietti and Michelle Goldsmith have tickets and can be reached at (435) 820-8384 or (435) 650-3290.
If you are unable to attend the event you do have an opportunity to make a donation by accessing the QR code on the Facebook page or you can help sponsor a piece of playground equipment. “We do have quite a few people sponsoring pieces of equipment, for example, my husband and I are sponsoring a swing that the wheelchair actually will roll up in to the swing, and so you don’t have to take your kid out of the wheelchair. So that is the piece of equipment that we have decided to donate. I hope that you guys will support this event. We have all worked very hard to try to get this playground going, and its going to be quite expensive, so if you can help us in any way, I would appreciate it,” stated Marietti.
PHOTO COURTESY OF FRIENDS OF HELPER AREA FUNDRAISER