By: YNN Web Staff
DUTCHESS COUNTY, N.Y. — Dutchess County is getting its first ever handicap accessible playground after a group of volunteers in East Fishkill formed a nonprofit organization to raise money for the facility.
Julie’s Jungle is raising money and awareness to help build the 14,000 square foot playground at Lime Kiln Park.
On Friday, the organization picked up a $25,000 donation from the Trump Organization to help make the playground become a reality.
“There’s a lot of children with disabilities, but there’s very, very few playgrounds and often times they are left out and we need to level out the playing field, a world where everyone can go and enjoy themselves regardless of their conditions and they are doing that here,” said Eric Trump of the Trump Organization.
“We will have grail play panels for the visually impaired. We will have mirrors for the hearing impaired and special equipment for children who have cochlear implants. We hope to have a sensory guard for autistic children so if they need a place to sit off to the side and on their own, they can,” said Janet Mchugh, President of Julie’s Jungle.
Organizers say nearly $400,000 is needed to complete the project by 2014.