WHOLE LOTTA FUN(DS). Roosevelt Elementary School on Eau Claire's west side is continuing fundraising efforts to fully revamp its playground, pictured, which hasn't seen much of an update since the 1990s.

It’s the Thursday before Easter, and just as children are screaming and streaming out the back doors of Roosevelt Elementary School (3010 Eighth Street, Eau Claire) for recess on the Roosevelt Community Playground, Brent Douglas and a colleague from his floral shop (Brent Douglas Flowers) are calmly and diligently delivering pails and pails of tulips — 2,600 tulips total – through the school’s front doors for its Parent Teacher Association’s (PTA) “Help Our Playground Bloom” second annual sale.

The shop is one of several community fundraising partners who are behind the gargantuan $100,000-plus fund-raising effort to expand the current playground in Phase I and replace the outdated 1990s playground equipment in Phase 2. The Roosevelt Community Playground is on Eau Claire’s west side, tucked behind the towering Nestlé manufacturing facility at Truax Boulevard and 14th Street.

Phase I. (Images via fundraising plan)

Phase II.

The endeavor is critically important as the playground desert on the west side has limited places and spaces to exercise and have fun.

The next community fundraiser will be the PTA’s first-ever Spaghetti Dinner on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, from 4-7pm at the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd (1120 Cedar St., Eau Claire) with dine-in or carry-out options. For sign-up: https://ecroosevelt.memberhub.com/store.

Since fundraising started in October 2021, $65,000 has been raised for Phase 1, which is slated to get done this summer, largely due to the multiple fund-raising, grant-writing, and community outreach efforts of the elementary school students, their parents, the PTA, school staff, and supportive community members. Fundraising for Phase 2, initially estimated at $30,000 but now closer to $48,000, with inflationary pressures bumping up the cost by three percent per year, is underway to replace the 1990s equipment in summer 2024.

To donate to the Roosevelt Community Playground, scan the QR code with your phone found in the school logo tiger paw, or click on this link: shorturl.at/ceEKU. You can also mail or deliver a check Monday-Friday from 8am-4pm to Roosevelt Elementary, 3010 Eighth St., Eau Claire, WI 54703.

Current fundraising "thermometer" at the school. (Photo by Barbara Arnold)

For additional information about the school, visit its website and Facebook page and the Roosevelt Elementary School PTA Facebook.