Hyland Elementary will soon receive a brand new playground, thanks to a generous donation of $150,000 from an "angel donor" who significantly helped the school's PAC reach its $220,000 fundraising goal. The school was one of several schools in urgent need of playground replacement.
For the school community at Hyland Elementary, a significant boost in fundraising for their new playground is nothing short of a miracle.
This past summer, Surrey Schools' Office of Advancement received an inquiry from an individual wanting to donate $150,000 towards Hyland's new playground after hearing of the growing need of financial assistance for elementary playground fundraising. While the donor has opted to remain anonymous, their generosity makes this the single largest donation from an individual to the district for playground replacement.
"We are just so incredibly grateful," said principal Bronwen Howden. "It's a tremendous donation to our school and the kids will be super excited to have a new playground very, very soon!"
For the past year, the school community has been diligently raising money to replace its original playground, which had reached the end of its lifespan after several decades and was removed this past summer. The average cost of a safe and accessible playground is $200,000, which can be a significant cost for Parent Advisory Councils (PACs) to fundraise, especially amid many competing school needs.
"We ran weekly pizza sales, multiple hot lunches, Halloween dance - every fundraising initiative was all going to the playground," said vice-principal Edward Carter. "The PAC approached community organizations for donations, we had a parent connection with Tim Hortons for the Smile Cookie campaign that raised more than $17,000 towards it.
"We raised almost $70,000 in a year, but when you're looking at a $200,000-plus price tag for a new playground, these are things that probably would've needed multiple years to fund, or some significant grants. Or an angel donor."
Evidently, Hyland's prayers were answered: a community member read about Hyland's need for a new playground, and touched by the story, offered to fund the remaining sum of $150,000 to make the school's dream a reality.
"It was incredible news - how often do you hear of someone being able to donate $150,000?" said Carter. "I was super proud that we were able to raise almost $70,000 in the span of a year, that's phenomenal, but obviously we were looking at this massive mountain to climb, and then all of a sudden, we'd just been taken to the top."
The school is now finalizing the purchase order for the playground, and while they wait on a timeline from the contractor to install the new structures, they are busy working with students to envision a new accessible playground and all that will entail.
"In the interim, we've had a lot of support provided from within to keep kids engaged at recess and lunch," said Howden. "Staff were planning different activities for the Grade 7 classes to teach the younger kids - they did a lot of brainstorming of games and activities to play and that was very helpful.
"They're limited in what they can do right now, but they'll be excited to jump and play on the playground when it opens, and we're thankful that this donation is making this happen."
"The fundraising phase is over, and that's a huge relief for the community and everyone who's been involved in this process," said Carter. "Now it's just the excitement and anticipation until we are able to see things materialize."
Thank you to Hyland Elementary's angel donor' for watching over the school community!
How You Can Help
The district's Office of Advancement accepts donations to playgrounds for all schools in the district and welcomes contributions from individuals, companies, corporations, businesses and foundations.
Donations can be made online or by emailing donations@surreyschools.ca. Surrey Schools is a registered Canadian Charity with the Canada Revenue Agency and every donation above $20 is eligible for a tax receipt.
For more information, please contact Vanessa Seco at 604-595-6074 or email donations@surreyschools.ca. To donate online or learn about other ways to contribute, visit the Ways to Give page.
