DILLON – It takes plenty of work to build a park, but the people of Dillon are used to hard work.
“It is hard work, we all sleep well every night and we all take our Advil,” said volunteer Tammy Baker.
Throughout this week, hundreds of volunteers will put their backs into completing the nearly $800,000 renovation of Dillon’s Jaycee Park.
“It just inspiring, it’s so awesome to be around people that like-minded that want to give back to the community,” said project coordinator Erin Hughes.
Erin had an idea to improve the park by adding an amphitheater, a splash pad and a children’s play area.
They hired Play by Design consultant group to design the park. Community volunteers would help build the facility and input was sought from Dillon’s youngest citizens.
“We had the children of Dillon give us their ideas and drawings and we were able to create the design for our playground which not only reflects their ideas but also some awesome historical and geographical elements of Dillon,” Hughes said.
It was not hard to find plenty of volunteers.
“My kids played here when they were little and this is the best thing to happen to Dillon is years so it’s hard not to be a part of it,” said volunteer Travis Stufflebean.
Baker added, “I’m just so encouraged for our town to see the community come out and do all these wonderful things.”
One thing good about this project is they have up to 200 people a day working on this park so they can get it done, and not only that, they get a sense of investment in their community.
“The brilliance, again, of the community build is the sense of ownership, you know, you talk to the people, the connections that people make by creating a playground, you know, when it’s all said and done, it is a playground, but at the same time it’s the community’s playground. That sense of ownership is unbelievable,” said Play By Design co-founder Lee Archin.
Hughes said, “It’s truly a life-changing event, not only for me but everyone who gets to be a part of it, it’s something we can bring our kids and our grandkids to and say that ‘we helped build this.’”
People can still volunteer or make donations this week by signing up at Jaycee Park in Dillon.
