Determination, volunteerism and dogged fundraising has paid off for Becker youngsters in the form of an accessible playground being built at the Becker Primary School.

Becker Primary School Principal Dale Christensen led the charge, and in the process his vision became reality as the playground took form last week.

“This was truly a community build, as we had such great support from the community,” Christensen said, noting that no school funds were used in the project.  “It’s an all inclusive playground that is accessible to all kids to be able to interact with their peers.”  

The playground itself resembles many other play structures, but there are special components such as a we-go-round, which would allow a student in a wheelchair to enjoy the interactive nature with his or her peers.

The location is ideally located near the Primary School and the Early Education Center, meaning that it will see continuous use throughout the day.

In total, approximately $198,000 was raised for the project, which was mostly built in one day last week with the generous help of Liberty Paper, Inc., which had nearly two dozen employees on site to lend a hand after having donated $22,500 to the project.  The LPI employees assembled the components, drilled holes and filled them with concrete and made such great progress, they were given a huge compliment.

“The volunteers were amazing and the company representative said it was the best group he ever worked with,” Christensen said.  “Usually it takes three days, but we did most of it in one day thanks to their hard work.”

Wruck Excavating was also instrumental in the project, donating the site preparation work and providing a construction dumpster.  Local Lions Clubs were incredibly generous in their support, while the Becker Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Committee provided lunch to the volunteers.

A huge donation came from Coril Holdings, a company that provided $125,000 in Canadian grant funds, while school read-a-thon and walk-a-thon fundraisers also chipped in over $50,000.  

Donors to the project included: Liberty Paper, Wruck Excavating, American Family Insurance, John Riebel and Becker True Value Hardware, Holiday Store, TJ Potter Trucking, Becker Lions, Clear Lake Lions, Hubbard Electric, Santiago Lions, Duelm Lions, Clearwater Lions, Dillon Radunz, Coril Holdings.