LEGO Children's Fund Donates $250,000 To Enfield Rotary Accessible Playground Project

Posted by Michael Helechu 
on Jan 11, 2012
 
January 11, 2012 was a great day for the Rotary Club of Enfield, the LEGO® Children's Fund, the Town of Enfield and surrounding towns in CT and MA, and especially for the children of our community.
 
 

the LEGO® Children’s Fund supports ENFIELD rotary cluB with $250,000 grant

 

ENFIELD, Conn. (January 11, 2011) – Furthering  its commitment to support organizations that serve children and children’s creativity,  The LEGO® Children’s Fund today announced a $250,000 grant to the Rotary Club of Enfield. The grant will support the creation of an accessible playground in the town of Enfield, Connecticut, where LEGO Systems, Inc. also has its headquarters.

 

The planned outdoor playground space will be centrally located at the Enfield Public Library on Middle Road and will be a place where families can spend time together, enjoy the fresh air and benefit from physical exercise.  In designing and installing an accessible playground, The Rotary Club of Enfield will ensure that children and family members of any ability can enjoy the space.

 

“We are very grateful to the LEGO Children’s Fund for supporting this community service project,” said Rotarian Ed Palomba, who chairs the club’s accessible playground committee. “This generous grant will cover the entire estimated budget for design, site preparation and construction of the playground.”

 

Palomba indicated that the Rotary Club will raise additional funds to enhance the site with walkways, picnic tables, benches and a pavilion and welcomes the support of businesses in the local area.

 

Former Enfield Rotary Club President Lindsey Weber proposed the accessible playground project in 2010. “I imagined an outdoor play space that everyone in the community would enjoy. Soon, families will be able to enjoy a safe and engaging space for physical activity and fresh air. I am very excited to see the playground come to fruition with the help of the LEGO Children’s Fund.” 

 

“The LEGO Children’s Fund is our way of supporting organizations that promote children’s creative development,” said Søren Torp Laursen, president, LEGO Systems, Inc. and LEGO Children’s Fund chairman.  “We’re thrilled to award our largest grant yet to The Rotary Club of Enfield, which has served our local community for over 80 years. We look forward to the implementation of the new playground, where all children and families in the area will be able to play and enjoy time together.”

Typically, only one grant per year is made to a non-profit group identified and selected by The LEGO Children’s Fund Board of Directors. This year marks the first time that the Fund opened the national large grant nomination process to employees, and as a result, increased its 2011 grant-making total to nearly $1,000,000.


About The Rotary Club of Enfield

The Rotary Club of Enfield is a civic organization made up of local business men and women whose motto is “Service Above Self.”  The Enfield Club has been in existence since 1928 and over the years has sponsored numerous community service projects to benefit the residents of Enfield. More than $260,000 in scholarships has been awarded to local college students. A “Career Shadowing Program” helps high school students make informed career choices. In 2003, Rotarians raised funds to install a gazebo and park benches at the Enfield Senior Center. The club supports the Enfield Food Shelf, Loaves & Fishes Soup Kitchen, the Enfield Police Department’s “Toy for Joy” campaign, as well as youth sports programs and a wide variety of local clubs and organizations. In addition to local projects, the club contributes to international service projects, such as the eradication of polio and providing clean drinking water around the globe.

 

About the LEGO Children’s Fund

The LEGO Children’s Fund supports organizations and programs in the United States that champion the importance of creativity in a child’s life and are dedicated to inspiring and encouraging youth creativity through monetary grants that subsidize the costs of fostering children’s exploration of personal creativity in all forms.  Guidelines and grant applications are available at www.LEGOchildrensfund.org.

 

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LEGO and the LEGO Children’s Fund logo are trademarks of the LEGO Group, used here with permission.  © 2012 The LEGO Group.  All rights reserved.

 

Please see the Download Page for a .pdf of the check presentation that includes this press release and a photo.