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HomeNewsWilliams LakeCity to Apply for Grant for Play Boxes for Green Spaces

City to Apply for Grant for Play Boxes for Green Spaces

The City of Williams Lake could be getting three play boxes chock-full of equipment for youth and families to access in green spaces that don’t already have equipment in them.

Manager of Recreation, Stacey Miranda says the play boxes originated with a partnership with Interior Health, Punky Lake Wilderness Camp Society, and Communities That Care to engage residents in social connectedness and increase the health and well-being of residents.

“So the playboxes originated with a partnership and it’s kind of based on the ‘Live 5210’ philosophy. The five is five plus servings of vegetables and fruits a day, the two is no more than two hours of screen time a day, play activity at least one hour a day, and zero sweetened drinks per day. We are focusing on a strategy that came out of Communities that Care. They are another partnership that’s working on youth in our region and trying to help them become more engaged in not only the school but their neighborhoods and their families.”

“So we looked at this grant and the programs that involve play boxes and we think it’s a perfect fit. So we’re applying for a grant.”

Access for the boxes which Miranda says would contain things like soccer balls, hula hoops, and more would require a key code which the City would provide.

The playboxes if approved through the BC Healthy Communities’ Capacity Building Funds Plan H Stream One: Cultivating Connections grant will be based on the program which has been running in Abbotsford as well as Calgary.

“In Abbotsford and Calgary they’re more on the outskirts but they’re in areas that don’t have play equipment. The people that we’ve talked to said there’s very little vandalism or theft and that people kind of police them self and that they’re surprised at the number of people who donate back. You might go there one day and there’s two soccer balls and the next day there’s four.”

Miranda says they will be applying for the maximum amount of $15,000 for the purchase, installation, and program marketing of the three boxes through the grant and that they should know by June 30th if their application is successful.

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