Volunteers refurbish Doolittle Park
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald Volunteers from the Larson community and Lowe’s employees teamed up to refurbish the playground equipment at Doolittle Park Wednesday and Thursday.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald Valicity McMurtry was one of the volunteers painting the playground equipment at Doolittle Park Thursday. Refurbishing the playground was chosen by Lowe’s employees as their yearly community service project.
MOSES LAKE — Doolittle Park on Patton Boulevard has always been a community project.
The park was built a decade ago with volunteer labor and donations of money and materials. It’s still a community project, and volunteers from Lowe’s joined community members to work on some needed maintenance Wednesday and Thursday.
The park is owned by the Grant County Housing Authority, said Art Brown, pastor of the Light of Larson church. But the housing authority has other demands on its time, so Brown and his congregation have worked to make the upkeep of the park a community project.
The toys and playhouse got a new paint job, and the playhouse got new windows; the swings got new beams – and there are some new swings, too. Lowe’s donated new picnic tables and the paint to paint them. Crews cut windows into the playhouse, made some repairs to the playground equipment and took down some fencing.
The crew included volunteers from Lowe’s and the Larson community. The church congregation cooked lunch both days.
Lowe’s employees pick a community project each year, said Lowe’s organizer Jason Scheel. “We have a meeting and everybody comes up with ideas – who needs help in the community?” Scheel said. Maintaining the park is an ongoing project, and volunteers from the church and community have been working on it for about three months, Brown said. The housing authority paid for bark to spread over the grounds, and “there were 60 yards of bark the neighbors helped spread,” Brown said.
Lowe’s employees knew about the park and made it the yearly project. “It’s been a fun project. Love it,” Scheele said. About 50 volunteers from Lowe’s worked at the park over the two days, he said.
“We got more done than we almost thought we could,” Brown said.
The work will continue through the fall. Brown said volunteer labor is still needed, and the project has run over budget slightly. People who want to volunteer or make a donation can contact Brown at 509-350-3720, or through Light of Larson's Facebook page.