Pittsfield’s epic new playground

Kids in Pittsfield say their new playground is “epic.”

Foundation donor-advised fund holders helped the community of Pittsfield build a new playground at Drake Field, giving children a fun, safe, accessible and free place to play.

The old playground was way overdue for an upgrade: the swings had been declared unsafe and decommissioned, there were no climbing structures for kids to scale, and the whole area could fit a very small number of children.

Three donor-advised fund holders at the Charitable Foundation came together with a combined $37,500 toward the total $52,500 cost of building a new playground for Pittsfield. The balance of the funding was provided by the school district, and a local cadre of volunteers came together to work on the project.

Kids have been writing letters to the Pittsfield School Board, which spearheaded the project.

“I’m thankful for you building us a new playground and giving us new swings,” wrote Kaitlyn, a third-grader. “We love it!” added Taylor.

A playground, of course, is more than the sum of its slides and swings. It is a statement to young people that they are valued by their community.

“Thank you for putting the swings back up and caring for us children,” Taylor wrote.

Pittsfield is a town of 4,500 in central New Hampshire where more than half of all children are eligible for free and reduced price school lunch. Lots of families live within walking distance of the playground’s downtown location, and Pittsfield’s Head Start program is located right next door.

“I’m volunteering to help take care of the playground,” Kaitlyn wrote. “You did an awesome job!!!”

This story originally appeared in our Fall/Winter 2015 Purpose Newsletter.