New playground installed at New Hope Family Shelter
Summer is finally here and our children have a new place to play! Thanks to a generous donation from the Bloomington Salvation Army and the selfless labor of the Hope Builders, a first-class playground is now a permanent addition to New Hope Family Shelter.
We want to express our profound gratitude to Captain Brenna Lee and Captain Vinal Lee, along with the board of Bloomington Salvation Army, for making this installation happen. This is another wonderful example of how our community partners are always willing to collaborate and help each other.
Hope Builders remove the playground equipment from its original location in June 2023. Left to right: John Cracraft, Rob Todd, Wayne Gray, Terry McCoy, Craig Luginbill, and Brian Clark.
We also want to thank our Hope Builders, who removed these impressive — and HEAVY — pieces of quality playground equipment from their original location on a very hot day two years ago and installed them in their new home at New Hope in the midst of chaotic weather this week. We appreciate everything this dedicated group of volunteers does to support our facilities and the families we serve, but their efforts on this project has been especially heartwarming.
“We especially appreciate Wayne Gray,” said longtime New Hope volunteer Steve Dyer. ”[He] laid on his back, using his cutting torch to cut off the posts below ground level, and then — after having double knee replacements — welded the pipe extensions back on!”