History

The North Warren Playground was originally part of the North Warren Elementary School and was completely redone in 1999. When the school was closed in 2005, the North Warren Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) was fortunate enough to be given the property through the generous gift of one of our members at the time.

Both the donors and the Session, the church’s governing body, did not want to simply “put up a parking lot” as the saying goes. So instead,

• a pavilion was erected with picnic tables used by many local groups,
• plenty of green space was set aside with ongoing plantings and landscaping,
• the playground was preserved and enhanced,
• and a portion was paved for a much needed parking area.

Originally, the playground was given to Conewango Township, but by 2014, the playground came back to the church. The township didn’t want to deal with the maintenance or the liability issues that went with the playground anymore, but the church felt that it was an asset to the community and should be kept going, despite the issues that accompany such an installation.

Maintenance

Keeping a playground well maintained is more work than you might imagine and costs a fair amount of money. Fortunately, most of what we need is provided by the church members, but occasionally a larger expenditure comes up that exceeds the church’s ability to cover. That’s when we have to turn to our neighbors and ask for help.

Such a time is now.

•  New mulch is needed.
• Several pieces have been broken and need to be replaced. These “toys” come at a cost of several hundred dollars each.
• Fence maintenance is a constant issue due to vandalism – why there is vandalism of this resource for the small children is anyone’s guess, but it is a petty factor that we have to deal with.
• Landscaping is a constant cost and we try to keep it looking nice for everyone. Again, vandalism is often at the root of much of this cost.

How Can You Help?

You can help by clicking on the button below and make a “one time” or a recurring donation to help with our playground projects. Once you are on the page, just make a note in the field toward the bottom of the page that you want your donation to be used for the playground, and we will reserve it for that use only. Donations direct from checking or savings accounts incur charges of only 1% per transaction, whereas credit cards carry a nearly 2.598% as well as an additional $.026 charge per transaction.

The really good news is that the North Warren Presbyterian Church has several donors who will match your gift, dollar for dollar, up to $5,000 toward our goal of $10,000.  All funds raised through this drive will be used exclusively in the playground and park area. None of the funds so designated will be used in any other areas of the church’s expenses.

Your fully tax deductible financial donation helps maintain this well used resource for families in our neighborhood. By the way, if you would like to make a donation of time to help work on the playground projects as well, just contact the church sometime and chat about the current opportunities – there’s nearly always some work to be done.

Thanks. And God Bless.