2022 Update
April 1st, 2022
On March 15, the Board of Directors of Wade’s World of Wonder All-Abilities Playground, Inc. met with a member of the Preston County Commission, the County Administrator, and our Nonprofit Consultant. It had taken us many years to get to that day, from the first time we thought that we might want to build a playground in Wade’s honor, to the numerous fits and starts for years afterward. Understanding that we needed to hire a Nonprofit Consultant to navigate us through this process, then having her undertake a redesign of the playground into a large, 9-acre park that would accommodate far more children and adults (and would garner funding), and an Engineering assessment of the land by EADS group right across from the Preston Memorial Hospital; then facing COVID and having to put EVERYTHING on hold until we knew what the future would bring, to this moment where we have sent off our non-profit paperwork (still waiting for the IRS to approve that) and now, planning the last important meeting of the first stage of making this playground become a reality: obtaining written consent from the Preston County Commission to reserve the 9 acre lot across from Preston Memorial Hospital (which has been the agreement since the beginning but need updated documented confirmation). It has been a LOT, only possibly by the grace of God. Only once we have documentation from the county can the Secretary of Tourism, with whom we have spoken last month, support us in getting state and federal dollars to help us build the playground. Without those monies, we cannot attract grant funders nor large donors.
We are almost there. It seems like it has taken forever! Preston County Parks and Recreation (PCPaRC) has agreed to take ownership of the park after completion. We have a key meeting May 3rd with the County Commission at 10 AM to obtain a written agreement to reserve the property across from Preston Memorial Hospital so we can move forward with grant writing and procuring large monies from large donors that it will take to prepare the land and buy the all-abilities playground equipment that will allow everyone, children, and adults of all ages, to enjoy Wade’s World of Wonder for the first time.
Even with all that activity on March 15th, where we had the playground designers discuss all the wonderful equipment that we will have in the playground, there was one thing that we could NOT get out of our minds: March 15th was our little boy’s 16th birthday. Had he lived, he would have been a Sophomore at Preston County High School. He might have enjoyed March Madness, or WVU Football games, like his Dad. He would still have had profound disabilities, but he would have been here with us and his sisters, and he would be our joy. We still miss him terribly but know that he would want us to continue on to build this park so other kids and adults could enjoy what he could not: A day of play with family and friends.
We need your help. We have raised money for Wade’s World of Wonder for the past several years and have used the proceeds for even more fundraising and for professional services like application for our nonprofit, paying for our professional consultant (who has helped us redesign the park and have officials and funders take our efforts seriously) and tens of thousands of dollars in engineering assessments on the land, to make sure that it is suitable for a playground. But now, we need your help more than ever. We have given this effort tens of thousands of dollars of our own money, but we need to continue to pay our organizational bills and leverage more funding for the park, so that we can raise money for grant writing and more fundraising activities. Our annual Golf Scramble is on July 30, 2022 at Alpine Lake, and we need to find sponsorship for it. In short, we are FINALLY at the most important place we’ve ever been, and yet we need funding from the community more than ever to move to the next level of this project.
Please, whatever you can spare, consider helping our project get over this very crucial hump. We went from parents not knowing anything about what we were doing (except that we wanted to build a playground in memory of our son), to people with a nonprofit organization, and a consultant making presentations to government officials and State Cabinet Secretaries. We have to say, it can be a bit overwhelming with two challenging jobs and our daughter going off to college in the fall. It would be very disappointing to stop now just as we have begun to get some SERIOUS traction, due to a lack of funding.
Thank you, in advance, for believing in our mission, and for wanting (as we do) a safe and beautiful place for ALL children and their families to play and have fun. Preston County’s families DESERVE this, and we do this in his beautiful memory. Bless you all for your help and for your ongoing support!
Sincerely,
Laura & Jason Mazza
[email protected]
304-290-5553
PayPal Giving Fund: Click here
On March 15, the Board of Directors of Wade’s World of Wonder All-Abilities Playground, Inc. met with a member of the Preston County Commission, the County Administrator, and our Nonprofit Consultant. It had taken us many years to get to that day, from the first time we thought that we might want to build a playground in Wade’s honor, to the numerous fits and starts for years afterward. Understanding that we needed to hire a Nonprofit Consultant to navigate us through this process, then having her undertake a redesign of the playground into a large, 9-acre park that would accommodate far more children and adults (and would garner funding), and an Engineering assessment of the land by EADS group right across from the Preston Memorial Hospital; then facing COVID and having to put EVERYTHING on hold until we knew what the future would bring, to this moment where we have sent off our non-profit paperwork (still waiting for the IRS to approve that) and now, planning the last important meeting of the first stage of making this playground become a reality: obtaining written consent from the Preston County Commission to reserve the 9 acre lot across from Preston Memorial Hospital (which has been the agreement since the beginning but need updated documented confirmation). It has been a LOT, only possibly by the grace of God. Only once we have documentation from the county can the Secretary of Tourism, with whom we have spoken last month, support us in getting state and federal dollars to help us build the playground. Without those monies, we cannot attract grant funders nor large donors.
We are almost there. It seems like it has taken forever! Preston County Parks and Recreation (PCPaRC) has agreed to take ownership of the park after completion. We have a key meeting May 3rd with the County Commission at 10 AM to obtain a written agreement to reserve the property across from Preston Memorial Hospital so we can move forward with grant writing and procuring large monies from large donors that it will take to prepare the land and buy the all-abilities playground equipment that will allow everyone, children, and adults of all ages, to enjoy Wade’s World of Wonder for the first time.
Even with all that activity on March 15th, where we had the playground designers discuss all the wonderful equipment that we will have in the playground, there was one thing that we could NOT get out of our minds: March 15th was our little boy’s 16th birthday. Had he lived, he would have been a Sophomore at Preston County High School. He might have enjoyed March Madness, or WVU Football games, like his Dad. He would still have had profound disabilities, but he would have been here with us and his sisters, and he would be our joy. We still miss him terribly but know that he would want us to continue on to build this park so other kids and adults could enjoy what he could not: A day of play with family and friends.
We need your help. We have raised money for Wade’s World of Wonder for the past several years and have used the proceeds for even more fundraising and for professional services like application for our nonprofit, paying for our professional consultant (who has helped us redesign the park and have officials and funders take our efforts seriously) and tens of thousands of dollars in engineering assessments on the land, to make sure that it is suitable for a playground. But now, we need your help more than ever. We have given this effort tens of thousands of dollars of our own money, but we need to continue to pay our organizational bills and leverage more funding for the park, so that we can raise money for grant writing and more fundraising activities. Our annual Golf Scramble is on July 30, 2022 at Alpine Lake, and we need to find sponsorship for it. In short, we are FINALLY at the most important place we’ve ever been, and yet we need funding from the community more than ever to move to the next level of this project.
Please, whatever you can spare, consider helping our project get over this very crucial hump. We went from parents not knowing anything about what we were doing (except that we wanted to build a playground in memory of our son), to people with a nonprofit organization, and a consultant making presentations to government officials and State Cabinet Secretaries. We have to say, it can be a bit overwhelming with two challenging jobs and our daughter going off to college in the fall. It would be very disappointing to stop now just as we have begun to get some SERIOUS traction, due to a lack of funding.
Thank you, in advance, for believing in our mission, and for wanting (as we do) a safe and beautiful place for ALL children and their families to play and have fun. Preston County’s families DESERVE this, and we do this in his beautiful memory. Bless you all for your help and for your ongoing support!
Sincerely,
Laura & Jason Mazza
[email protected]
304-290-5553
PayPal Giving Fund: Click here